drink the Kool-Aid

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 (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.
   • 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