I CAN, I just bought a cake and I ate it. Simple. Does anyone else think that this saying is utterly untrue? What's the point in buying a cake I cannot eat?
2007-04-18 06:49:31 · 21 answers · asked by Prophet Of Truth 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
basically it is saying you can't both have it with you and eat it and still 'have' it.... it is a choice thing i think is what it is all about ...
kind of like you can have your cow and eat steak at the same time... cuz then you no longer have your cow if he is on the barbeque
2007-04-18 06:55:57 · answer #1 · answered by livinintheword † 6 · 8⤊ 0⤋
You are misunderstanding the meaning. It's understandable, though... the saying was coined in the 1500's. Language was a way of warping a bit.
Let's put it this way. At first, you buy the cake. Now you have it. It's right there. Then you eat it. Do you still have a cake? I don't see one at all. You USED to have a cake, but now you don't.
If we were going to modernize the saying, we would probably instead say, "You can't SAVE your cake and eat it too." But then who saves a bunch of cakes? Maybe money would be a better example. Hm...
2007-04-18 13:54:33 · answer #2 · answered by Doctor Why 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I think that what is meant ( to make it true ) is that you should take it literaly. If you have a cake and then eat it then you dont have the cake anymore. thus you can not have the cake, and eat the cake.
If you do not eat the cake then you have the cake ( provided you dont give it away )
2007-04-18 13:58:45 · answer #3 · answered by gjmb1960 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think the expression means that you can't *keep* the cake and eat it... Well you can keep increasingly smaller parts of the cake while you eat it, but eventually it's all gone.
2007-04-18 13:53:19 · answer #4 · answered by Pirate AM™ 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I always buy two cakes. So I can eat one and still have cake.
Mmm. Cake.
2007-04-18 13:53:08 · answer #5 · answered by Resident Heretic 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It means that you still won't have a cake in your possession once you're finished eating it.
It actually does make sense in certain situations.
2007-04-18 13:54:52 · answer #6 · answered by Hollie 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No it means you cannot KEEP your cake (have your cake) when you have eaten it.
Like you can't eat your cake at that moment and still have saved it for later.
Stupid wording, i know.
2007-04-18 13:53:17 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Mmmm...cake.
2007-04-18 13:51:48 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
love cake
2007-04-18 13:52:50 · answer #9 · answered by traveller 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yea this saying is pretty pointless because who gets cake and doesn't eat it? it doesn't really make sense but everyone knows what you are talking about when you say it so i guess it's ok
2007-04-18 13:53:07 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋