Where did the term, "..have your cake and eat it too", come from?

Question

What's the point of having cake if you're not going to eat it?

Answer 1

Actually many people say it backwards. The phrase is supposed to be "You can't eat your cake and have it too." Literally that means that once you eat the cake, it's gone, you can't have it after you've eaten it. What it means as a phrase is that you can't have something that is directly contrary to something else you have just done. (Can't have it both ways - like telling someone to be quiet and listen and then be angry when they don't answer). Hope that helps.

Answer 2

WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE, TITLED "Have your cake and eat it too" says the English idiomatic phrase first showed up in print in 1546.
In essence, it is saying you can't be greedy, you can either have something or use it, and if it is something that is edible or non-permanent, once used it really is gone....

Answer 3

A 42nd street hooker.