Cooked

Origin

Cooked as slang for “ruined” or “done for” has older roots — Australian slang used “cooked” for something messed up, broken, or fried-brained for years. The Gen Z and Gen Alpha version exploded through gaming, sports, and TikTok around 2023, where “we’re cooked” became the go-to reaction to a hopeless situation. It sits opposite the equally popular “let him cook” and “he’s cooking,” which flip the same kitchen metaphor into praise for someone on a roll.

How it’s used

• We’re cooked: collective doom — a bad matchup, an impossible deadline, getting caught. (“Boss wants the deck by 9am, we’re cooked.”)
• I’m cooked: personal trouble or total exhaustion. (“Left my phone unlocked next to my sister — I’m cooked.”)
• Bone dry cooked / so cooked: intensifiers piled on for comic despair.

It’s the panic cousin of a skill issue and the natural landing spot when a delulu plan finally collapses. Pair it with a This Is Fine reaction and you’ve captured the whole vibe.