This week’s weird word is cakeism. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, cakeism means “the wish to have or do two good things at the same time when this is impossible. This word comes from the phrase ‘to have your cake and eat it too.’” I am all about having cake. (And eating it, too!). Write about your weird word… or your cake! If you choose to take up the challenge, please add a pingback to this prompt.

Today, I was introduced to the word cakeism. What a totally awesome word, at least the way I think of it—in terms of cake!

But the fact is, this word has taken on a decidedly negative connotation, in keeping with the phrase from which it emerged. It has been used a great deal in politics—to refer to the people pushing for Brexit, for example, who want the benefits of the European Union without actually being part of it. And in the U.S., there are many policy-makers who base their whole platforms on a policy of cakeism.

Let me be completely honest for a minute… I’ve never really understood the phrase, “You can’t have your cake and eat it, too.” If I have cake, I’m definitely going to eat it. After all, if you have cake, you don’t want it to go to waste, right? In fact, I only have cake when I’m going to eat it, so I don’t see how these two things are in opposition. “You can’t have it both ways” seems a more fitting phrase to use in situations that require a phrase of this sort.

Meanwhile, all this talk of cake is making me hungry. I think I’m going to go buy some cake… and eat it, too!