Goose (ganso) you may know. The plural is “geese”.
Here our focus is on idioms (modismos) that use the word goose.
Consider these:
- It is possible to “cook somone´s goose”. This means that you prevent or frustrate someóne´s plans. An example sentence:
Mr. Casado, by announcing tax cuts (reducciones en impuestos) before Mr. Sanchez, meant that Mr. Casado had “cooked Mr. Sanchez´s goose”.
By announcing the tax cuts before anyone else Mr. Casado gets an advantage, and Mr. Sanchez´s plan for lower taxes therefore has no impact.
- Sometimes people “kill the goose that lays the golden egg” (matar la gallina de los huevos de oro). This means that you have destroyed something that is profitable (lucrativo) for you. This is not wise.
- Some people “go on a wild goose chase”, an imposible mission (misión imposible). It means that you are searching in vain (en vano) for something, or the search is futile (fútil). A similar expresión is to “look for a needle in a haystack ((buscar una aguja en un pajar).
So, if you be the chef (cocinero) at home, you can cook a goose for Sunday lunch, cook someone else´s goose (destroy his initiative or plans), ¡and you may go on a wild goose chase trying to find a needle in a haystack!
