Have One's Cake and Eat IT Too - Other Languages

Other Languages

Various expressions are used to convey similar idioms in other languages:

• Bulgarian: 'И вълкът сит, и агнето цяло - Both the wolf is full, and the lamb is whole.
• Czech: Aby se vlk nažral a koza zůstala celá - The wolf is full and the goat stayed whole.
• Chinese: '又要马儿跑，又要马儿不吃草 (pinyin: Yòu yào mǎ'er pǎo, yòu yào mǎ'er bu chī cǎo.) - To want a horse that both runs fast and consumes no feed; or 魚與熊掌不可兼得 from Mencius - You cannot have both the fish and the bear's paw (as a rare delicacy) at the same time.
• Danish: Man kan ikke både blæse og have mel i munden - You cannot both blow and have flour in your mouth.
• Dutch: Je moet kiezen of delen - is based on card games such as Bridge or Whist] where one can either pass or choose a game. In case you're the last, you have to choose a game or the cards are discarded and redealt. In case your hand is just not good enough, you have to choose to play a game and potentially lose it, or discard a potentially winning hand. Both are impossible, you can't have it both ways.
• French: Vouloir le beurre et l'argent du beurre - to want the butter and the money from (selling) the butter. The idiom can be emphasized by adding et le sourire de la crémière (and the smile of the female buttermaker).
• German:, 'wasch' mich, aber mach mich nicht naß! - please wash me, but don't get me wet!.
  • Switzerland: Du chasch nit dr Füfer und s Weggli ha - you can't have the five cent coin and a Swiss bread roll.
• Greek: Και την πίτα ολόκληρη και τον σκύλο χορτάτο - you want the entire pie and the dog full.
• Hebrew: '‎אי אפשר לאכול את העוגה ולהשאיר אותה שלמה - you can't eat the cake and keep it whole
• Hungarian: Olyan nincs, hogy a kecske is jól lakjon, és a káposzta is megmaradjon. - It is impossible that the goat has enough to eat and the cabbage remains as well.
• Italian: Avere la botte piena e la moglie ubriaca - to have the barrel full and the wife drunk.
• Nepal: dubai haat ma laddu, which means having laddu (a sweet candy) in both your hands.
• Papiamentu: Skohe of lag'i skohe - choose or let choose
• Persian: '‎هم خر را خواستن و هم خرما را - wanting both the donkey and the (sugar)dates
• Polish: Wilk syty i owca cała - The wolf is full, and the lamb - whole.
• Portuguese: Querer ter sol na eira e chuva no nabal - wanting the sun shine on the threshing floor, while it rains on the turnip field.
• Romanian: Nu poți împăca și capra și varza - You can't reconcile the goat and the cabbage.
• Russian: Тяжело усидеть на двух стульях - it's hard to have a seat on two chairs at once.
• Serbian: Не можеш да имаш и јаре и паре - You can't have both goatling and money.
• Spanish: Querer estar en Misa y en procesión - wishing to be both at Mass and in the procession and estar en Misa y repicando (or estar en Misa y tocar la campana)- to be both at Mass and in the belfry, bell-ringing
• Tamil: மீசைக்கும் ஆசை கூழுக்கும் ஆசை - desire to have both the moustache and to drink the porridge.
  • Argentina: la chancha y los veinte - the pig and the twenties. It comes from the old piggybanks for children that used to contain coins of 20 cents. The only way to get the coins was to break the piggybank open -- hence the phrase. This can be emphasized by adding y la máquina de hacer chorizos - and the machine to make sausage.