又要马儿跑，又要马儿不吃草
yòu​yào​mǎ​r​pǎo​yòu​yào​mǎ​r​bù​chī​cǎo

you can't have your cake and eat it too

  • created sense approved 又要马儿跑，又要马儿不吃草/又要馬兒跑，又要馬兒不吃草 · yòu​yào​mǎ​r​pǎo​yòu​yào​mǎ​r​bù​chī​cǎo · you can't have your cake and eat it too — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    又要马儿跑，又要马儿不吃草 / 又要馬兒跑，又要馬兒不吃草

    yòu​yào​mǎ​r​pǎo​yòu​yào​mǎ​r​bù​chī​cǎo

    you can't have your cake and eat it too

    Literally "you expect the horse to run but don't want to let it eat grass"; used to describe someone who wants results without being willing to pay the necessary price or provide the necessary resources.

    又要 (literal) → 又要 · yòu​yào · both... and... 马 (literal) → 马/馬 · mǎ · horse 儿 (bound) → 儿/兒 · r · [erhua suffix] 跑 (literal) → 跑 · pǎo · to run ， (non_chinese) 又要 (literal) → 又要 · yòu​yào · both... and... 马 (literal) → 马/馬 · mǎ · horse 儿 (bound) → 儿/兒 · r · [erhua suffix] 不 (literal) → 不 · bù · not 吃草 (literal) → 吃草 · chī​cǎo · to graze

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense