have it both ways

1. Achieve two mutually exclusive objectives, as in Bill wants to have it both ways—to enjoy Christmas at home and to travel with his friends. The related have it all means “to get everything one wants,” as in It's too bad we can't have it all—the wisdom of experience and the fresh enthusiasm of youth. [Early 1900s]

Example Sentences

Gayle King read aloud a comment in which a fan said that Carpenter “can’t have it both ways. If it’s satire of how men treat us, it can’t also be a straightforward image of a woman being submissive just because it’s sexy.”

From Los Angeles Times

It’s tough to have it both ways.

From Salon

After the bombs began to fall, he tried to have it both ways or, actually, as many ways as one could possibly count—claiming that he had known about Israel’s plans all along, hailing the attack’s initial success, while also urging Tehran to come to the talks and “make a deal” anyway, calling on all parties to stop fighting and asking Russian President Vladimir Putin to help mediate.

From Slate

Baldoni’s attorney Kevin Fritz said the actor wanted to keep the right to re-file those emotional distress claims at a later time — but Lively “can’t have it both ways.”

From Los Angeles Times

In case after case since Trump’s restoration, the court has tried to have it both ways, reeling in some of his most extreme actions—while still giving the GOP most of what it wants—without entirely ceding its own power to tell the president “no.”

From Slate