I wanna eat my cake!
Ok since chasidishe shaigitz asked so nicely....
I've been wanting to write this for a while now, I just haven't had the time or patience.
don't you hate it when people use phrases or sayings that make absolutely no sense? And I'm not talking about misusing a phrase or misquoting a quote. I'm not even talking about when somebody says something really stupid, (I have a friend who is great like that, you can always count on him to say something that makes no sense at all. I used to have a whole collection of his sayings, I dont remember most of them offhand, but here's one I do remember: "You stupid genius!" anybody have any idea what that's supposed to mean?)
What I am talking about is normal phrases used by normal people in a normal conversation. At the moment I'm reffering to one particular phrase which I keep hearing and it just drives me crazy. every time I hear it I want to scream.
The saying: "You can't have your cake and eat it too"
could somebody please explain that one to me? what in the world is that supposed to mean?
The point it's used to illustrate is that you win some and you lose some, you cant have everything you want, somethings work out others don't.
now how does this saying make this point? what it seems to be saying is that you can either have your cake or eat it but not both.
what can you possibly do with cake other than eat it?
seriously, when was the last time somebody walked into a bakery, asked for a piece of cake, was given the cake and told "you can have the cake but you cant eat it" and the guy answered "ok, thats fine, I'll just frame it and hang it up in my living room"
how about eating your cake without having it? I would love to hear how thats possible.
kind of reminds me of dayenu "ilu kara lanu es hayam vlo he'evirenu bsocho bechorovo dayenu" (or something like that)
gee, thanks. who cares if we actualy make it across safe and sound the important thing is that the sea was split. if we drown? no big deal, at least he split the sea for us.
(yes i do know what it really means)
who cares if you can eat your cake or not, the important thing is that you have it.
I dont know about the rest of you, maybe you think being able to eat a piece of cake that you have is too much to ask.
but me? no. If I have a piece of cake I want to eat it, I'm not settling for anything less. (of course if you happen to have some cake and you feel it's not right for you to be able to eat it as well just send it my way)
to be cont...
I need to get some sleep...
I've been wanting to write this for a while now, I just haven't had the time or patience.
don't you hate it when people use phrases or sayings that make absolutely no sense? And I'm not talking about misusing a phrase or misquoting a quote. I'm not even talking about when somebody says something really stupid, (I have a friend who is great like that, you can always count on him to say something that makes no sense at all. I used to have a whole collection of his sayings, I dont remember most of them offhand, but here's one I do remember: "You stupid genius!" anybody have any idea what that's supposed to mean?)
What I am talking about is normal phrases used by normal people in a normal conversation. At the moment I'm reffering to one particular phrase which I keep hearing and it just drives me crazy. every time I hear it I want to scream.
The saying: "You can't have your cake and eat it too"
could somebody please explain that one to me? what in the world is that supposed to mean?
The point it's used to illustrate is that you win some and you lose some, you cant have everything you want, somethings work out others don't.
now how does this saying make this point? what it seems to be saying is that you can either have your cake or eat it but not both.
what can you possibly do with cake other than eat it?
seriously, when was the last time somebody walked into a bakery, asked for a piece of cake, was given the cake and told "you can have the cake but you cant eat it" and the guy answered "ok, thats fine, I'll just frame it and hang it up in my living room"
how about eating your cake without having it? I would love to hear how thats possible.
kind of reminds me of dayenu "ilu kara lanu es hayam vlo he'evirenu bsocho bechorovo dayenu" (or something like that)
gee, thanks. who cares if we actualy make it across safe and sound the important thing is that the sea was split. if we drown? no big deal, at least he split the sea for us.
(yes i do know what it really means)
who cares if you can eat your cake or not, the important thing is that you have it.
I dont know about the rest of you, maybe you think being able to eat a piece of cake that you have is too much to ask.
but me? no. If I have a piece of cake I want to eat it, I'm not settling for anything less. (of course if you happen to have some cake and you feel it's not right for you to be able to eat it as well just send it my way)
to be cont...
I need to get some sleep...
posted by Renegade at 1:56 AM
6 Comments:
havent you ever found a cake that was too pretty to eat? on the other hand, you want to eat it? well, there you go.
"The point it's used to illustrate is that you win some and you lose some, you cant have everything you want, somethings work out others don't."
I think your problem with this idiom begins with your misunderstanding of it's proper use.
It means that you can't have two things which are mutally incompatible. Hence, "you can't have your cake and eat it too" - either you eat it, or you have it -but not both.
The saying does not illustrate, as you say, "you can't have everything you want" - since you can, so long as they are not mutally incompatible.
You misunderstood the saying. It means you can't have them simultaniously. Like if someone doesn't want to spend money but wants to live it up you'd tell them "you can't have your cake and eat it too," i,e., it's one or the other. That has nothing to do with loosing some and winning some.
Anychow, that post was very funny. And now I want to meet your friend. He reminds me of me. :)
Please update mor than just once a month. You've got a knack for this stuff.
ok, fine, so its not as bad as I thought. It must've been used out of context (obviously it couldn't be my mistake)
But i still dont think it makes that much sense. stay tuned for my next post on the subject.
Nemo: thanks, I appreciate that.
now if only I had the time to update every time I think of something to write...
You raise an interesting question. Why would anyone want to have their cake and not eat it? The answer is that they wouldn't. What they don't want is to lose the possibility of eating the cake. In other words, it is an existential dilemma raised by the finiteness of the cake. However, if the cake were big enough then one could eat it and still have it... at least until eating it, and then one would no longer have it. Finitude again. But since the question is about having the cake rather than eating it, the saying should logically be, "You can't eat your cake and have it too." I believe that's the true source of this dilemma -- wrong syntax. Unless the primary aim is indeed to "have" the cake... which, as you pointed out, is a ridiculous aim. As far as a cake being too pretty to eat, this has often occurred at L'chaims I've been at. In that case the cake is neither eaten nor had. So what happens to such cakes? Maybe they are recycled to the next simcha so people can neither eat the cake nor have it.
Post a Comment
<< Home