had one's cake and ate it too
Kept both options
Had one's cake and ate it too describes getting two benefits that normally exclude each other—enjoying something while also preserving it.
The phrase captures impossible greed or improbable success: She wanted to quit her job and keep the salary—have her cake and eat it too.
Usually appears with want or can't: You can't have your cake and eat it too.
- desireIntense wanting
- greedExcessive desire for wealth
- greedy gutsOne who overeats
- best of both worldsHaving two advantages simultaneously
- figurative speechLanguage beyond literal meaning
paradox · proverbs · expectations · impossibility · contradiction · entitlement · wishful thinking · ambition · privilege · duality · burning the candle · trade off · regret · satisfaction · colloquialisms · self-interest · fairness · inconsistency
outcome fairness and trade-offs
had one's cake and ate it toopaid the price
Suffered deserved consequences