I don’t know, as a ttrpg’er, I’m being someone else every two weeks for three hours are a time. ;)

My least favorite is

Just be yourself!

Even in grade school I knew this was hogwash. I didn’t act the same in class as during recess, or in church as when at the dinner table. Exactly which me was I supposed to be? When someone asks, “What am I supposed to do?” They are really asking, “How should I behave?” And if you’ve never been on a date before, or this is your first job interview, then it’s not obvious.

A: “So, how did the interview go?”

B: “Not so well, he threw my resume away, in front of me, and ordered me to leave.”

A: “What? Why?”

B: “Well, I did just as your said, I was being myself. I walked in, gave him the ol’ finger guns, then started with my best fart joke.”

A: “Why the hell would you do that at an interview?”

B: “Because that routine always slays in the dorms and I was trying to be myself.”

I wondered about this for years and years, never understanding, especially, since “having cake” and “eating cake” are used interchangeably. But, I finally figured it out! In this sense, the “having” is equivalent to “keeping” or “being in possession of.”

Examples:

• “What’s it like having a Mercedes Benz?”
• “The Smiths have a very nice home.”

No eating implied!

Therefore, the saying is more inline with “You can’t keep (to show off or admire) your cake, and eat it, too.”