Unrelated question but why can’t one have a cake and eat it? Presumably that’s why you’d own a cake in the first place. Or is world filled with people eating other people’s cakes but no owner is ever allowed to. Such a mysterious saying…
The easiest way to parse the meaning is to reverse the statement order, i.e. “Can’t eat your cake and have it too.” If you ate it, you wouldn’t have it. If you have it, you haven’t eaten it. The two states are mutually exclusive.
I’m an adult and go just drive and buy a cake anytime I want. I think it comes from you buy a cake to share, you are supposed to buy “a slice/piece” for yourself?
That phrase is about fancy cakes, like wedding cake art. You can’t keep the art and eat the cake. Like the food network cake competitions, some of those things are super creative, but you can’t have the art and eat the cake.
It’s like painting custom wrapping paper, or printing on toilet paper. If the purpose of something is to be consumed or destroyed, it can’t do that and look good at the same time. You have to choose between having pretty mocha art and drinking a mocha.
Unrelated question but why can’t one have a cake and eat it? Presumably that’s why you’d own a cake in the first place. Or is world filled with people eating other people’s cakes but no owner is ever allowed to. Such a mysterious saying…
The easiest way to parse the meaning is to reverse the statement order, i.e. “Can’t eat your cake and have it too.” If you ate it, you wouldn’t have it. If you have it, you haven’t eaten it. The two states are mutually exclusive.
Okay, that makes sense, just weird choice of words.
Totally agree. I’ve never been a fan of the saying and it only clicked properly for me when I heard it explained with the statement reversal.
I’m an adult and go just drive and buy a cake anytime I want. I think it comes from you buy a cake to share, you are supposed to buy “a slice/piece” for yourself?
I don’t know but it doesn’t make sense. The saying, that is.
Huh, it just clicked.
If you eat your cake you no longer have it, and to have a cake you can’t eat it.
Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me still.
That phrase is about fancy cakes, like wedding cake art. You can’t keep the art and eat the cake. Like the food network cake competitions, some of those things are super creative, but you can’t have the art and eat the cake.
It’s like painting custom wrapping paper, or printing on toilet paper. If the purpose of something is to be consumed or destroyed, it can’t do that and look good at the same time. You have to choose between having pretty mocha art and drinking a mocha.