someone's goose is cooked

phrase

All hope is gone; there is no possibility of success; the period of good fortune is over.

“If he doesn't win the next round, then his goose is cooked.”

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Meanings

phrase
  1. idiomaticAll hope is gone; there is no possibility of success; the period of good fortune is over.

    If he doesn't win the next round, then his goose is cooked.

    3 more examples

    On our wedding day, a friend said to me sadly: 'Poor old Bernard, now your goose is cooked. Women are like cats, they like walls...'

    1969, Bernard Moitessier, “Cape Horn: The Logical Route”, in Inge Moore, transl., [1967, Cap Horn à la Voile], page 49

    "I think that she was so concerned that she was afraid to even mention it in her own journals," Jennifer told him. “In fact, she doesn't bring it up again until it's pretty clear that the South's goose is cooked.”

    2004, Tom Morrisey, Deep Blue, page 27

    I thought that Texaco made a pretty good reply, but one of the federal lawyers gave me her take: “When you have to withdraw the evidence on which your expert based his opinion, your goose is cooked.”

    2001, Kenneth S. Deffeyes, Hubbert's Peak: The Impending World Oil Shortage, page 48

Origin

Unclear. Unconvincing claims have been made of the term's origin in Aesop's Fables (The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs) and in Swedish history. Attested as cook someone's goose from 1845.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Dutch de rapen zijn gaar, het vet is van de soep
  • de rapen zijn gaarall hope is gone
  • het vet is van de soepall hope is gone
Finnish nyt otti ohraleipä
  • nyt otti ohraleipäall hope is gone
French les carottes sont cuites
  • les carottes sont cuitesall hope is gone
German erledigt sein, geliefert sein
  • erledigt seinall hope is gone
  • geliefert seinall hope is gone
  • die Messe ist gelesenall hope is gone
Italian conciare per le feste
  • conciare per le festeall hope is gone
Polish nie ma nadziei
  • nie ma nadzieiall hope is gone
Russian пиши пропало /write that it's lost/, де́ло труба́ /business is a pipe/
  • пиши пропало /write that it's lost/ (piši propalo)all hope is gone
  • де́ло труба́ /business is a pipe/ (délo trubá)all hope is gone
  • де́ло таба́к /business is tobacco/ (délo tabák)all hope is gone
  • де́ло швах (délo švax)all hope is gone
  • попал, как кур во щи /caught like a rooster into shchi/ (popal, kak kur vo šči)all hope is gone
  • пе́сенка спета /(his) song is sung/ (pésenka speta)all hope is gone
Swedish nu är det kokta fläsket stekt
  • nu är det kokta fläsket stektall hope is gone
Cite this entry
APA

someone's goose is cooked. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/someone's%20goose%20is%20cooked

MLA

“someone's goose is cooked.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/someone's%20goose%20is%20cooked. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “someone's goose is cooked,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/someone's%20goose%20is%20cooked.

Source: someone's goose is cooked on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.