have your cake and eat it (too)
Meaning(s)
1. having/getting more than is deserved or reasonable
Popularity
High
Professional
High
Social
How to Memorize
you can't have your cake and eat it too
Analysis
The expression to have your cake and eat it too refers to a situation where someone is restricted to two options that are both attractive. In this situation, the person wishes to choose both but can't because the choices contradict each other. If you have a cake and to eat it, it is gone. You can't simultaneously have the cake in your hand and also eat it. This idiomatic phrase is used to tell someone or do you say that you can't have everything and you have to choose one thing or another.
Social Examples (Advance)
- By completing the work more efficiently, she had less work and more free time, proving she could have her cake and eat it too.
- Pick one or the other because you can't have your cake and eat it too.
Professional Examples (Basic)
- My co-worker tried to have his cake and eat it by taking advantage of his new colleague's willingness to stay overtime.
- We were given the option of flexitime or working from home. I wish we had both but you can't have your cake and eat it.