cook (one's) goose


cook (one's) goose

To interfere with, disrupt, or ruin something for someone. News of my involvement in this scandal will cook my goose for sure.See also: cook, goose

cook someone's goose

Fig. to damage or ruin someone. I cooked my own goose by not showing up on time. Sally cooked Bob's goose for treating her the way he did.See also: cook, goose

cook someone's goose

Ruin someone, upset someone's plans. For example, He thinks he'll get away with stealing my idea, but I'm going to cook his goose. The origin of this phrase has been lost, but there are numerous fanciful theories; one concerns a besieged town that displayed a goose to show it had enough food, causing the attackers to set it on fire. The first recorded use of this colloquial phrase was in 1851. See also: cook, goose

cook your goose

INFORMALIf you cook your goose, you do something which causes trouble for you or spoils your chances of success. He's not going to get that promotion now — he's cooked his goose. Note: Something or someone can also cook someone else's goose. If any issue has cooked their goose at the next election, it is probably their position on taxes. Note: You can also say that your goose is cooked if you are in trouble or will certainly fail at something. We all thought our goose was cooked — we were going to be attacked by ground forces and there was nowhere to retreat. Note: There is a story that King Eric XIV of Sweden once arrived at a town to find that the people had hung a goose from a tree. This was intended as an insult, perhaps because geese were associated with stupidity. The King announced that he would `cook their goose', and his soldiers invaded the town and set fire to its main buildings. An alternative theory is that the expression refers to Aesop's fable of the goose which laid golden eggs: see the explanation at `kill the goose that lays the golden egg'. See also: cook, goose

cook someone's goose

spoil someone's plans; cause someone's downfall. informal The underlying idea of this phrase seems to be that a goose was cherished and fattened up for a special occasion, and therefore to cook it prematurely meant to spoil the plans for a feast.See also: cook, goose

ˌcook somebody’s ˈgoose

(informal) ruin somebody’s plans or chances of success: He thought that the police would never find him but when he saw the officer coming towards him he realized that his goose was finally cooked.See also: cook, goose

cook (one's) goose

Slang To ruin one's chances: The speeding ticket cooked his goose with his father. Her goose was cooked when she was caught cheating on the test.See also: cook, goose