have your cake

[Baby Jane]

"you can't have your cake and eat it" why is int it "you can't eat your cake and have it"

[Quizmonster]

'You cannot eat your cake and have it' was already listed in these exact words as a proverb in the 1500s, so clearly it was around even before that. Many people claim they just don't "get it" but perhaps they are misunderstanding a somewhat old-fashioned use of English. It simply means that once (a) - the eating of the cake - is completed, then (b) - still having it - is excluded.
Pretty straightforward, really, and there is no suggestion that you cannot have the cake in the first place.
So, it really is the way you say it should be, Jane!

[Baby Jane]

Thanks quizmonster, of course, it makes sense now.

[jno]

it should be you can't eat it and have it, as Quizmonster says (and as you say). I think people just get it wrong.

[Panic Button]

A bit like people saying 'cheap at half the price' when it should be 'cheap at twice the price'

[jno]

yes, that's another good one. I suppose when expressions turn into proverbs it means people no longer think about their meanings when they say them.

[rojash]

I've always assumed that 'Cheap at half the price' was intended as a joke...

[VS Prasad]

From "Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings" by Gregory Y. Titelman:
"You can't have your cake and eat it too -- One can't use something up and still have it to enjoy. This proverb was recorded in the book of proverbs by John Heywood in 1546, and is first attested in the United States in the 1742 'Colonial Records of Georgia' in 'Original Papers, 1735-1752.' The adage is found in varying forms: You can't eat your cake and have it too. You can't have everything and eat it too; Eat your cake and have the crumbs in bed with you, etc. ..."