Dictionary

drink the Kool-Aid en · VERB

Etymology

Referring to the Peoples Temple cult movement, whose members committed mass murder–suicide in 1978 by drinking a powdered drink mix (popularly believed to be Kool-Aid, but in fact Flavor Aid) laced with cyanide poison.

Meanings

1. (US, colloquial) To come under the influence of a leader, organization, or movement to the point of believing uncritically in an espoused idea or ideology.
   • […] essentially three options to choose from when you're confronted with the liberal hooey. The options are: 1. You can drink the campus Kool Aid […] 2007, Doug Giles, A Time to Clash: Papers from a Provocative Pastor:
   • "Then we better not drink the Kool-Aid. Have you been drinking the Kool-Aid, Robert?" 2008, James Howard Kunstler, World Made by Hand:
   • They "drink the Kool-Aid", as Lampley terms it, meaning that they buy into the Olympic experience. 2008, Andrew C Billings, Olympic Media: Inside the Biggest Show on Television:
   • Outside the Convention Center, meanwhile, protesters on either side of police barricades waved signs, chanted, sang songs and heckled people walking inside to attend the fundraiser. Signs included "Limp Wrists Make Strong Fists," "I'd Rather Be Dead Than Born Again" and "Abort the Moral Majority." One of the more original chants was "Don't drink the Kool-Aid!" 1982 April 24, Claude Peck, “Demo Greets Falwell During Visit to Minneapolis”, in Gay Community News, page 3:
   • Netscape, while willing to drink the open source Kool Aid, realized there were other important issues in the commercial sector. 1999, Robert Young, Wendy Goldman Rohm, Under the Radar: How Red Hat Changed the Software Business:

Forms

Relateds

take the red pill · Jonestown · brainwash

Translations (1)

es tragarse la píldora (Translations)

wikipedia: Kool-Aid · wikipedia: Jonestown#Mass murder–suicide in Jonestown · wikipedia: Flavor Aid · wikipedia: Peoples Temple