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You needn’t have any culinary prowess to take part in Gen Z’s latest slang to tell you you’re toast. For some odd reason, this generation’s vernacular seems to revolve a lot around the kitchen. From “Let Him Cook,” to “Someone Cooked Here,” it’s no surprise a third phrase has been added to the roster: You’re cooked.
What does ‘I’m Cooked’ mean?
Gen X had “we’re toast,” Millennials had “roasted,” and now it seems Gen Z wants to keep the grillin’ lingo going with “cooked.”
The phrase “I’m cooked” or “We’re cooked” basically means you’re in a lot of trouble—aka, you’re f*cked. Whereas the slang “let him cook” means something positive—let him get his point across, or let him speak—“cooked” is a darker euphemism.
Say you’re driving down the highway at 90 miles per hour and suddenly, your brakes stop working—a Gen Zer would say you’re definitely cooked. Dining out on a date and realize at the end of the meal you left your wallet back home? Yeah, you’re cooked.
In other contexts, “I’m Cooked” can mean “I’m done for,” as TikToker Athena delineated in her explainer. For instance, she referenced a girl saying “I’m cooked” when she heard a guy promise she’s the only girl he’s ever loved. In other words, major red flag vibes. In one scenario, a TikToker claimed “you’re cooked” if you have no sense of style, or are always on your phone.
Another version of the phrase is “Getting Cooked,” which is similar to getting roasted where you are being mocked by others. You can get cooked in the group chat if your joke falls flat, or get cooked in the Chipotle line if the worker thinks your order is despicable. The point is, “cooked” is almost always negative, and not to be confused with the positive “you’re cooking.”
Where did it come from?
Some seem to think “cooked” is another way to say you’re “done,” or “finished,” which makes sense in a culinary setting. As for its origin, Know Your Meme traces the slang all the way to 2009, “with several X users using the expression ‘getting cooked’ in order to refer to sports matches and losses.”
However, according to the site, in the 2010s the phrase was also used interchangeably with “roasted,” which we know means mocked or insulted. As for Urban Dictionary, the Millennial guidebook states the phrase is “a way of describing a scenario, person or object in an extremely negative way.”
How to use ‘I’m Cooked’
To use some real-life examples, here are some recent cases the Daily Dot covered where folks on the internet used the slang term:
- ‘I have to rent out this house for $10,000’: Expert says real estate is ‘cooked.’ Here’s what it means for you
- ‘I’m cooked’: Woman warns against tote bags after noticing something about her back
- ‘If you’re doing this every day, you’re cooked’: Expert shares things you may be doing that are ruining your car
- ‘I’m cooked’: Expert shares how people can find your deleted social media posts with this tool
So if you ever find yourself in a dire situation with no way out—like me when I push a squad on Fortnite without my teammates—feel free to borrow the Gen Z term and utter “Bro, I’m cooked.”
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If you want to get this column a week before we publish it, subscribe to web_crawlr, where you’ll get the daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.
