| idiom. |
to enjoy both of two desirable but incompatible alternatives (It's rarely possible to have one's cake and eat it.  collinsdictionary.com); to get the benefits of two different situations or things, when you should only get the benefit of one of them (The Chancellor can't have his cake and eat it: interest rates will go up, but tax revenues will go down. collinsdictionary.com); to have or do two things that one desires that are normally contradictory or impossible to have or do simultaneously (i.e., to maintain possession of one's cake while still eating it, an obvious impossibility: Too many people want to have their cake and eat it, demanding all sorts of social benefits from the government but being unwilling to pay any taxes to fund them. thefreedictionary.com) |
