drink the Kool-Aid

See also: drink the Kool Aid

English

Alternative forms

• drink the Kool Aid

Etymology

Referring to the Peoples Temple cult movement, who committed mass suicide in 1978 by drinking a powdered drink mix (popularly, but erroneously, believed to be Kool-Aid) laced with cyanide.

Verb

drink the Kool-Aid (third-person singular simple present drinks the Kool-Aid, present participle drinking the Kool-Aid, simple past drank the Kool-Aid, past participle drunk the Kool-Aid)

1. (chiefly US, colloquial, derogatory) To come under the influence of a leader, organization, or movement to the point of believing uncritically in an espoused idea or ideology.
   • 1982 April 24, Claude Peck, “Demo Greets Falwell During Visit to Minneapolis”, in Gay Community News, page 3:

     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!"

   • 1999, Robert Young, Wendy Goldman Rohm, Under the Radar: How Red Hat Changed the Software Business:

     Netscape, while willing to drink the open source Kool Aid, realized there were other important issues in the commercial sector.

   • 2007, Doug Giles, A Time to Clash: Papers from a Provocative Pastor:

     […] 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 […]

   • 2008, Andrew C Billings, Olympic Media: Inside the Biggest Show on Television:

     They "drink the Kool-Aid", as Lampley terms it, meaning that they buy into the Olympic experience.

   • 2008, James Howard Kunstler, World Made by Hand:

     "Then we better not drink the Kool-Aid. Have you been drinking the Kool-Aid, Robert?"

See also

• brainwash
• take the red pill