Idiom
have one's cake and eat it too
Meaning
To benefit by having two things which are mutually incompatible (such as eating a piece of cake and yet still possessing that piece for future use).
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“You cannot have your cake and eat it too.”
“He wants to work from home but also get a promotion, but he cannot have his cake and eat it too.”
“The politician promised both lower taxes and better public services, ignoring the reality that one cannot have one's cake and eat it too.”
Examples
simple
“You cannot have your cake and eat it too.”
contextual
“He wants to work from home but also get a promotion, but he cannot have his cake and eat it too.”
complex
“The politician promised both lower taxes and better public services, ignoring the reality that one cannot have one's cake and eat it too.”
Key words
Related idioms
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