it's a phrase..
i heard it so many times but i don't know what it means..
not the literal like don't drink that kool aid. but there's a real meaning behind it.. like an idiom or something
thanks!
2007-09-11 18:06:54 · 10 answers · asked by ♥ mimi ♥ 7 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
It's a reference to the Jonestown Massacre, where 900 members of the People's Temple drank poisoned kool-aid
2007-09-11 18:18:52 · answer #1 · answered by Experto Credo 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unfortunately, it comes from a sad event that took place years ago in Guyana -- when religious cult followers of Jim Jones committed mass murder/suicide by lacing the kool aid with poison and feeding it to the adults and children of the cult village. Thus, the phrase as a warning, "don't drink the kool aid". On a lighter note, it would be similar to "don't drink the water" when in Mexico or other areas due to it being contaminated and cause stomach illnesses and diarrhea/dysentary.
2007-09-11 18:19:09 · answer #2 · answered by MusicalMagic 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Reference to Jim Jones and the Guyana tragedy where his followers drank the poison Laden kool aid like lemmings going off a cliff.
2016-05-17 12:47:46 · answer #3 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To answer your question about what the phrase actually means when it is used today, for example, when Bill O'Reilly on Fox News calls someone a "Koolaid drinker": Don't drink the Koolaid means don't buy the bull[droppings] being dished out by some group (the way the cultists in Jonestown did), think for yourself. A Koolaid drinker is someone who fails to follow that advice.
2007-09-11 18:52:17 · answer #4 · answered by Lisa B 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's a reference to the Jim Jones cult.
James Warren "Jim" Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was the American founder of the Peoples Temple group, which became synonymous with group suicide after the November 18, 1978 mass murder - suicide by poison in their isolated agricultural intentional community called Jonestown, located in Guyana. Nine hundred and thirteen (913) people drank cyanide after Jones ordered his men to kill visiting Congressman Leo Ryan and numerous members of his entourage.
2007-09-11 18:12:25 · answer #5 · answered by lyllyan 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Probably a reference to a charismatic leader named Jim Jones who got over a hundred people to go live in Guyana [sp] with him and do a brief religious commune scene until he told them all to drink poisoned kool-aid, which they did amazingly, even giving it to their children as directed, and they all died. A real mess.
2007-09-11 18:16:55 · answer #6 · answered by LK 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Like the avatar above mine said but who left out the part that the cyanide was put into kool aid - hence the warning.
2007-09-11 18:15:43 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
It means the punch is spiked.. Comes from the Jonestown massacre as stated above.
2007-09-11 18:47:43 · answer #8 · answered by cactus_blossom_2004 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Good info above, but didn't answer Q - the cyanide was in a big tub of KoolAide so the kids would drink it.
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2007-09-11 18:17:24 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
In my day is was "Don't drink the lemonade" as someone may have peed in it! It may be the same thing.
2007-09-11 19:02:39 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋