You can't have your cake and eat it too
Drives me nuts when people use it but have no idea what it means.
To my former boss, no, it doesn't mean "you can't have one without the other"

For example:

Me: I've just spent six hours on this problem. It drove me insane but I've finally worked it out.
Boss: You can't have your cake and eat it too.

Aaargh!!!

It's a statement which refers to the concept of opportunity cost, foresaking one thing for another.
As in "you cannot consume or spend something and still keep possession of it"

It does NOT mean "no pain, no gain".


Learn it, love it...better yet, just stop using it!
(DougQuaid Get ya azz to moars..., Fri 9 Apr 2010, 22:19, 2 replies)

What he means is
you can't have omelette without breaking eggs
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Fri 9 Apr 2010, 22:41, closed)

I'm sure
that's what he thinks he said, but throwing around a cliche just because it "sounds" like something topical and food-related is no excuse.

And this being a topic about annoying sayings gives me the right to sound righteous.
God knows I wouldn't have the balls to correct him to his face!
(DougQuaid Get ya azz to moars..., Sat 10 Apr 2010, 1:50, closed)