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.”

Agreed. This sounds good but immediately falls apart at the first scrutiny. It’s the same with “Don’t be a dick.” Everyone nods their heads and thinks, “Oh, that’s so obvious!” Of course, everyone agrees because they’re imagining what they believe is ‘evil’ or ‘being a dick’ and just assume everyone else agrees. Imagine their surprised-Pikachu face when they learn that other humans use different criteria.

But, if you think you can sum up thousands of years of ethics and legal theories with one pithy sentence, then go for it.

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.”

Ahh, to be only 30 again!