You can't have your cake and eat it too

Posted by ESC on May 15, 2005

In Reply to: You can't have your cake and eat it too posted by Suzie on May 15, 2005

: What is the meaning and origin of "You can't have your cake and eat it too"?

From the archives:

"You can't have your cake and eat it too -- One can't use something up and still have it to enjoy. This proverb was recorded in the book of proverbs by John Heywood in 1546, and is first attested in the United States in the 1742 'Colonial Records of Georgia' in 'Original Papers, 1735-1752.' The adage is found in varying forms: You can't eat your cake and have it too. You can't have everything and eat it too; Eat your cake and have the crumbs in bed with you, etc. ..." From Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996).