Drewbot • Cultural Variations on "Have one's cake and eat it too."

Cultural Variations on “Have one’s cake and eat it too.”

Know the idiom, know the culture:

Bulgaria: “Both the wolf is full, and the lamb is whole.”
Denmark: “You cannot both blow and have flour in your mouth.”
France: “To want the butter and the money from (selling) the butter.” (The idiom can be emphasized by adding, “and the smile of the female buttermaker”)
Germany: “Please wash me, but don’t get me wet!”
Switzerland: “You can’t have the five cent coin and a Swiss bread roll.”
Greece: “You want the entire pie and the dog full.”
Italy: “To have the barrel full and the wife drunk.”
Russia: “It’s hard to have a seat on two chairs at once.”
Spain: “Wishing to be both at Mass and in the procession.”