English · Proverb Candidate

you cannot have your cake and eat it too

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

You cannot enjoy two mutually exclusive things at the same time

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Không thể tận hưởng hai điều trái ngược cùng một lúc

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: eating cake after having it, implying possession and consumption

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Sources & notes

Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.

Topics: Food

Common questions

What does “you cannot have your cake and eat it too” mean?

You cannot enjoy two mutually exclusive things at the same time Literally: eating cake after having it, implying possession and consumption

Is “you cannot have your cake and eat it too” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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