FrenchAvoir le beurre et l'argent du beurre
Meaning: To want to have it both ways.
Literally: To have the butter and the money for the butter
Example: “Il veut un gros salaire sans jamais faire d'heures sup : il veut le beurre et l'argent du beurre.” — He wants a big salary without ever working overtime: he wants to have his cake and eat it too.
English equivalent: To have one's cake and eat it too
Origin: Attested from at least the late 19th century, and built on plain farm arithmetic: having sold your butter you may honestly keep the money or keep the butter, but not both, since the one was exchanged for the other. Wanting both is wanting the transaction to run only in your favor. The fuller and cruder form adds the dairywoman herself, and the expression is more often heard with vouloir than avoir.
Equivalents in other languages
Italian: Avere la botte piena e la moglie ubriaca Literally: To have the barrel full and the wife drunk
English: have one's cake and eat it too
More French idioms
- Noyer le poisson To confuse the issue deliberately; to dodge a question.
- Chercher midi à quatorze heures To overcomplicate a simple matter.
- Appeler un chat un chat To call things by their proper name; to speak bluntly.
- Donner sa langue au chat To give up trying to guess the answer.
- Avoir un poil dans la main To be extremely lazy.
- Prendre ses jambes à son cou To run away very fast.
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