Goose is cooked

Goose is cooked is an idiom with a mysterious origin. We will examine the meaning of the common saying goose is cooked, where it may have come from, and some examples of its idiomatic usage in sentences.

The idiom goose is cooked means that one’s plans have been ruined, that one is doomed, that one is in trouble. The origin of the expression goose is cooked is not really known; many stories that are not based in fact currently circulate on the internet. The most likely origin of the popular saying goose is cooked is the Aesop fable about the goose that laid the golden egg. In the story, greedy people are not content to wait for the goose to lay its golden eggs; they kill the goose in order to obtain the golden eggs immediately in order to have a lot of money all at once, and they find they have ruined their source of good fortune. However, even this origin story is dubious, because the famous phrase goose is cooked did not come into popular use until the mid-1800s. The sentiment is sometimes rendered as cook one’s goose.

Examples

And, unlike Silent Cal, Trump knows well his political goose is cooked if he doesn’t win the Sunshine State. (The Palm Beach Post)

Rather than making our leaders feel like their goose is cooked, we should find ways to work together. (Northern News Services)

What is this maniac going to do, when he realizes that HE is a loser, when his goose is cooked in November, no matter how many polls Rich Mitch McConnell closes in Kentucky and elsewhere? (The High Plains Reader)