les carottes sont cuites

French

Etymology

Literally, “The carrots are cooked”

In the 18th century, to have one's carrots cooked (avoir ses carottes cuites) meant “to be dying”, probably a metaphor for the carrots that were cooked to accompany meat dishes, ironically suggesting that the dying person would soon be ready to be eaten with these carrots. The expression later became “the carrots are cooked”, referring to any kind of hopeless situation.