The proverb literally means "you cannot simultaneously retain possession of a cake and eat it, too". Once the cake is eaten, it is gone. It can be used to say that one cannot have two incompatible things, or that one should not try to have more than is reasonable.
What does "can't have your cake and eat it too" mean? What is the origin of this idiom? And how is it used in common American English? Learn here.
You Can’t Have Your Cake and Eat it Too (Meaning, Origin, Examples)
HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT (TOO) definition: 1. to have or do two good things at the same time that are impossible to have or do at the same…. Learn more.
Too many people want to have their cake and eat it, demanding all sorts of social benefits from the government but being unwilling to pay any taxes to fund them. If you want to keep your job, you need to stop partying so much. Nobody can have their cake and eat it too—including you.
Have your cake and eat it too - Idioms by The Free Dictionary
But as Keats’s use of this proverb as epigraph suggests, the expression – whether as ‘you cannot eat your cake and have it too’ or ‘you cannot have your cake and eat it’ – was well-established by 1816, when Keats wrote ‘On Fame’.
The Meaning and Origin of ‘You Can’t Have Your Cake and Eat It’
The meaning of HAVE ONE'S CAKE AND EAT IT TOO is to have or enjoy the good parts of something without having or dealing with the bad parts. How to use have one's cake and eat it too in a sentence.