Avoir le beurre et l'argent du beurre

Meaning: To want to have it both ways.

Language: French

Literally: To have the butter and the money for the butter

Category: Food & Drink

Origin: French proverb, early 20th century.

More idioms — Food & Drink

• Faire la fine bouche — To be overly picky or hard to please.
• Tourner autour du pot — To beat around the bush.
• Casser du sucre sur le dos de quelqu'un — To talk behind someone's back.
• faire ses choux gras — Profiting greatly from a situation at someone else's expense.
• manger ses paroles — Having to take back or admit one was wrong about something said.
• mettre l'eau à la bouche — Making someone crave or desire something through temptation.

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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