have your cake and eat it

To have or do two things that one desires that are normally contradictory or impossible to have or do simultaneously. Because "have" can also mean "eat," this expression may seem redundant. However, it is based on the meaning of "have" as "to possess," i.e., to maintain possession of one's cake while still eating it, an obvious impossibility. You're never going to save enough money to buy a house if you keep buying expensive appliances and cars. You can't have your cake and eat it, too. 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.

COMMON If someone wants to have their cake and eat it, they are trying to benefit from two different situations, when they can only benefit from one of them. He wants to switch to a market economy in a way which does not reduce people's standard of living. But he can't have his cake and eat it. You can't be married to one woman and have a close relationship with another woman at the same time. That's having your cake and eating it. Note: Although `have your cake and eat it' is now the most common form of the expression, the original was `eat your cake and have it'. Some people consider the recent version illogical, since it is certainly possible to have a cake and then eat it but not the other way round.