# You can't have it both ways



## rcorrea

How do you translate this into Spanish?  "You can't have it both ways..."

Or is there a similar phrase in Spanish?


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## Переводчик

Do you have more context?


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## Ovidius.

"No puede ser de ambas maneras"


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## Переводчик

También podría ser "no puedes tener las dos cosas". Es que depende totalmente de lo que se trate, ¿no?


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## Ovidius.

Переводчик said:


> También podría ser "no puedes tener las dos cosas". Es que depende totalmente de lo que se trate, ¿no?


Claro, es que la gente siempre se olvida de dar mas contexto.


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## rcorrea

Переводчик said:


> Do you have more context?



The context of the text is....

You can't have it both ways!  There are natural laws where a choice must be made.  We cannot live our lives in such a way that we seek to benefit from two things that are in opposition to each other!  There are situations where a CHOICE must be made, you cannot simply have it both ways!


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## Alisterio

Just a suggestion: "you can't have it both ways" is more or less equivalent to "you can't have your cake and eat it". This expression is translated in the WR dictionary as "no puedes estar en misa y repicando"...


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## SydLexia

"Hay que elegir" (possibly use 'tomar una decisión' for 'make a choice' to avoid repetition)

syd


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## rcorrea

This was more directed at a saying or a "Dicho" in Spanish....there was one that I heard when I was young but it sounds kind of vulgar....but I want something similar.  The saying I heard was "No puedes mamar y dar de topes!"  I really do not know what this means but I do know that it meant that you canot have it both ways!  Is there another one that I can use?


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## Alex5

No se puede tener todo


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## The Loko

rcorrea said:


> This was more directed at a saying or a "Dicho" in Spanish....there was one that I heard when I was young but it sounds kind of vulgar....but I want something similar.  The saying I heard was "No puedes mamar y dar de topes!"  I really do not know what this means but I do know that it meant that you canot have it both ways!  Is there another one that I can use?


This is very vulgar, it can be like Ovidius says.


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## Argoss

Yo lo traduciría por "no se puede estar en misa y repicando", que es un refrán muy conocido en español.


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## Bigote Blanco

Alisterio said:


> Just a suggestion: "you can't have it both ways" is more or less equivalent to "you can't have your cake and eat it *too*". This expression is translated in the WR dictionary as "no puedes estar en misa y repicando"...


 
Alisterio, Your suggestion is good.  However, the correct expression is:
"You can't have your cake and eat it *too!"*


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## SydLexia

"You can't have it both ways" no es exactamente un dicho. Quiere decir "Hay que decidir" / "Una decisión es obligatoria" / etc.

 "¿Así o asá?"  ??

syd


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## mancunienne girl

Bigote Blanco said:


> Alisterio, Your suggestion is good.  However, the correct expression is:
> "You can't have your cake and eat it *too!"*


  You don't need the too in BE. It's tautological


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## irea

I was thinking that in Spanish we sometimes say "Las dos cosas no pueden ser". For example: "O estás con nosotros, o estás contra nosotros; las dos cosas no pueden ser".


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## eno2

Yo siempre utilizo en este caso 
<de las dos, uno>

Los españoles no van a ser feliz, porque es la traducción literal de la manera lapidaria (tres palabras) de decir esta cosa en holandés. Pero lo comprenden, creo.


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## catrina

Otro dicho que aplica:

no se puede hablar y comer pinole


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## Mr.Dent

No se puede chiflar y comer gofio a la misma vez.


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## Peacenico

One time somebody told me something like, "no se puede sonar la campana y marchar en el desfile." I thought that was funny, you can't ring the church bell and march in the parade--you have to choose.


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## gengo

rcorrea said:


> The saying I heard was "No puedes mamar y dar de topes!"  I really do not know what this means...



I found a book saying that dar topes is a Mexican variant on topar, and Collins says that topar is:  (Méx) (=reñir) to quarrel.  Therefore, I assume the saying literally means that you can't nurse and quarrel at the same time.  Sort of logical, I guess.

For what it's worth...


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## Cerros de Úbeda

Well, 'Mamar' is not actually 'nursing' ('amamantar', 'dar de mamar / pecho'), it's rather 'being nursed' (or 'sucking'; 'ser amamantado', in a passive sense).

Although, in fact, the sense of the phrase remains the same;

'Either you quarrel, or you suck. You can't have it both ways!'


The most common ones in Spain are:

- Hay que / Tienes que elegir.
- Hay que / Tienes que decidir / tomar una decisión.
- Las dos cosas no pueden ser.
- No se puede / puedes tener/hacer las dos cosas (a la vez) / todo. 

- No se puede estar en misa y repicando.
(This is a proverb, very commonly used - however, with a quite traditional tone, as most proverbs).


Notice that the two first ones can be said both as an impersonal, or as a personalised statement. Depending on whether you can make the focus of the sentence more general, or you want to address it directly, personally to your listener, and be more insistent.

There is also a nuance of formality / colloquialism there...

If you use the impersonal form, the 'hay que' pattern, then it has a more distanced tone. This is the tone or register you would use when talking in public.

However, if you are talking in private, or to a smaller group of people, then you can use the more personal form, addressed directly to the second person', with the 'tienes que' form.


Also, among all the ones given across the thread, there are several that are not used in Spain. I would suppose them to be Mexican, but the one on 'gofio' might not be, as its DLE entry refers to other countries... Is it not Mexican? (just asking this, for clarity):

- No se puede chiflar y comer gofio a la misma vez.
- No se puede hablar y comer pinole.
- No se puede mamar y dar de topes.


From what I've seen on the internet, 'Gofio' is a Canarian dip, originally from The Canary Islands, in Spain, but later spread across the Americas (the DLE has various references about this).

Now the question remains; What is 'pinole'?


*(*) DLE
- Gofio*
4. m. Arg., Cuba, P. Rico y Ur. p. us. Harina fina de maíz tostado.

*- Comer alguien gofio*
1. loc. verb. despect. coloq. Cuba. Hacer o decir algo inconveniente, inoportuno o inadmisible.

gofio | Diccionario de la lengua española


*(*) Tenerife information
- Gofio*
"Gofio is one of those foods that is better eaten as part of another recipe, similar to cous-cous, or rice. On its own, it's pretty bland."

Gofio - the most traditional Tenerife food


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## Mr.Dent

No se puede chiflar y comer gofio a la misma vez. -- I know this as a Uruguayan expression.
As far as I know, gofio and pinole are basically the same thing. I have been told this by both a Mexican and a Puerto Rican friend after I explained to them what gofio was.


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## Cerros de Úbeda

Thank you very much. Now it's clearer!

The expression has a humoristic side, as it conjures up the image of someone trying to eat 'gofio' (a hummus-like paste), and whistling at the same time... You can imagine the spluttering...!


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## Marsianitoh

No se puede/ puedes nadar y guardar la ropa.


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## Ballenero

eno2 said:


> Yo siempre utilizo en este caso
> <de las dos, uno>
> 
> Los españoles no van a ser feliz, porque es la traducción literal de la manera lapidaria (tres palabras) de decir esta cosa en holandés. Pero lo comprenden, creo.


En español existe la misma expresión:
"una de dos...".
.


Marsianitoh said:


> No se puede/ puedes nadar y guardar la ropa.


No es correcto.
En realidad la expresión es:
"Nadar y guardar la ropa" y significa que hay que actuar con precaución, sin arriesgarlo todo.
(dle)


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## Mr.Dent

Cerros de Úbeda said:


> The expression has a humoristic side, as it conjures up the image of someone trying to eat 'gofio' (a hummus-like paste), and whistling at the same time.


Gofio is not a hummus-like paste. It is a powdery type of cereal, ground and toasted.


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## Marsianitoh

Ballenero said:


> No es correcto.
> En realidad la expresión es:
> "Nadar y guardar la ropa" y significa que hay que actuar con precaución, sin arriesgarlo todo.
> (dle)


Lo que yo estoy diciendo es que no puedes hacerlo, que no tienes más remedio que arriesgarte y decantarte por una opción.


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## Cerros de Úbeda

Sí, de acuerdo... Pero creo que tiene distintas variantes según los países - a juzgar por la referencia del DLE:

*(*) DLE
- Gofio*
[Etimología - Voz guanche.]
1. m. Can., Ant., Arg., C. Rica y Ur. Harina gruesa de maíz, trigo o cebada tostados, a veces azucarada.
2. m. Ant. y Ur. Plato de comida que se hace con harina muy fina de maíz tostado y azúcar.
3. m. Nic., P. Rico y Ven. Dulce hecho con harina gruesa de maíz, trigo o cebada tostados.
4. m. Arg., Cuba, P. Rico y Ur. p. us. Harina fina de maíz tostado.


Por otro lado, el enlace que di yo de la versión española, canaria, se refiere a 'una pasta', e incluye una foto donde se parece mucho al hummus. Pero bueno, te doy la razón...

*(*) Tenerife information
- Gofio*
"As is the case with such other staples as rice, this food is very versatile. Milk can be added, to make it serve as a breakfast meal. It can be an accompaniment to meals, *when mixed with such things as oil, water or fruit.*

(...). This versatile food is also found in the recipes for Canarian stew and fish casserole, where *it is mixed in with the juices to make a tasty paste*."




Marsianitoh said:


> No se puede/ puedes nadar y guardar la ropa.



Yo conozco la expresión como 'hay que saber...';

"Hay que saber nadar y guardar la ropa."

Pero también admite variantes:

"Eso es (como) querer nadar y guardar la ropa."


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## Mr.Dent

Sorry, Cerros, to belabor the point.


> Dating from the times of the original inhabitants of Tenerife, the Guanches, it is a type of cereal, ground and toasted...
> 
> This versatile food is also found in the recipes for Canarian stew and fish casserole, where it is mixed in with the juices to make a tasty paste. Gofio - the most traditional Tenerife food


In other words the gofio is mixed with other ingredients to make a paste. But the gofio itself is a ground toasted cereal. My wife and her sisters used to make each other laugh when their mouths were full of gofio, and they'd spray the stuff all over.


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## Cerros de Úbeda

Mr.Dent said:


> In other words the gofio is mixed with other ingredients to make a paste. But the gofio itself is a ground toasted cereal.



Ok, I get it.


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## gengo

Cerros de Úbeda said:


> Well, 'Mamar' is not actually 'nursing' ('amamantar', 'dar de mamar / pecho'), it's rather 'being nursed' (or 'sucking'; 'ser amamantado', in a passive sense).



"To nurse" can be transitive or intransitive.  That is, both the mother and the baby can nurse, even at the same time.

El bebé mamaba la leche del pecho de su madre.
The baby nursed her mother's breast milk.


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## Cerros de Úbeda

Ah, well, I didn't know that. Thanks for that.


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## Aguas Claras

gengo said:


> "To nurse" can be transitive or intransitive.  That is, both the mother and the baby can nurse, even at the same time.
> 
> El bebé mamaba la leche del pecho de su madre.
> The baby nursed her mother's breast milk.


I would have thought the saying might refer to lambs and kids (and other baby animals), which butt ("topar") their mothers' udders in order to get the milk to flow. But if they are butting, they cannot be suckling ("mamando") at the same time.


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## gengo

Aguas Claras said:


> I would have thought the saying might refer to lambs and kids, which butt ("topar") their mothers' udders in order to get the milk to flow. But if they are butting, they cannot be suckling ("mamando") at the same time.



You may well be right.  I was just posting some information I found.  I have no personal knowledge of what the saying originally meant.


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## Aguas Claras

gengo said:


> You may well be right.  I was just posting some information I found.  I have no personal knowledge of what the saying originally meant.


I have no idea, either. It was just what sprung into my mind on reading it (because I am familiar with sheep and goats, not because I know anything about the phrase as such).


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## michelmontescuba

No se puede estar/andar en misa y en procesión.


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## BLUEGLAZE

Cerros de Úbeda said:


> 'Either you quarrel, or you *suckle*. You can't have it both ways!'


You can quarrel and suck at it.


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## Marsianitoh

Otra ( mejor que mi propuesta anterior) " soplar y sorber, no puede ser" Soplar y sorber, todo no puede ser: refranes españoles y en otros idiomas que reflejan la imposibilidad


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