proverb · Source-linked selection
To one who has a pie in the oven you may give a bit of your cake.
To one who has a pie in the oven you may give a bit of your cake.
In print by 1857 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The offer of cake to someone with a pie in the oven pictures giving where provision already exists. It invites attention to how help is distributed.
What the words are saying
The recipient’s coming pie suggests an existing resource alongside the extra cake. The saying can question a gift that adds to comfort while another need goes unnoticed, or simply picture sharing between people already preparing food. The wording does not establish which recipient deserves help. A useful interpretation asks what the gift is meant to accomplish and what is actually known about the person’s circumstances.
Everyday example
An organiser reviews whether extra supplies are going only to well-stocked tables while a new activity has none.
When to use it
Use it to examine how an additional gift relates to existing provision.
Put a useful idea into practice: try the free seven-day guide ↗
What it does not mean
Having one resource does not prove that all needs are met or that assistance is undeserved.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional (French-language collection)
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1857 AD · industrial
In print by 1857: recorded in A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857) (1857 AD)
Printed page 1; French section, paragraph 17; source wording: A celui qui a son pâté au four on peut donner de son gâteau.
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.