Why do internet slang phrases like 'let him cook' feel so alien?

[Daniel.R]

Okay, so I was trying to explain the whole “let him cook” thing to my dad after he saw my brother using it in a text. I gave it my best shot, but he just got this totally confused look and asked if it was something from a cooking show. Now I’m wondering if these phrases just sound completely bizarre if you’re not already swimming in that side of the internet every day. Has anyone else had a moment like that, where you realize how deep in the lingo you actually are?

[GaryNL]

I hear you the moment you realize you ride the slang wave let him cook feels like a badge you earned in the internet and it can sound tiny when a dad looks at you puzzled

[Natalie55]

Slang travels through screens and memes context is king what sounds sharp in one circle lands flat in another so let him cook becomes a signal about permission and pace not meals

[James75]

Dad likely thought it meant a cooking show or a kitchen demo which shows how the frame shifts and the idea of cooking becomes about control not food let him cook feels off to him

[AveryM]

Not everyone cares about the hype around a phrase and maybe this one is overblown let him cook is a vibe more than a plan

[ZoeyIM]

Maybe the bigger thing is how teams code switch the moment you hear a line you know what group you belong to its a marker of shared tempo let him cook is the badge not the recipe

[Jason97]

In fiction and chat you can use that line to draw a gap between an insider and an outsider the outsider hears the line and wonders what it even means let him cook as a cue not a guide