Talk:Drinking the Kool-Aid

Archives (Index)

2012 2014 2015 2016

This page is archived by ClueBot III.

New Introduction Proposed

I propose to address the issues that remain open on this talk page with a new introduction for the article. If you disagree with this intro, then please scroll down and address the open issues first. This introduction gives a more accurate picture of what is, and is not known, about this phrase and the references given.

--->

The wiki editors are not aware of any formal linguistic study on this phrase. Hence, this article has been written against secondary references and the benefit of the memories of some of the wiki editors who lived through this period. This might not meet the standards of Wikipedia, but if there is to be an article, this is the best we can do at this time.

Drug use, including that of LSD, was part of the Hippie culture that arose in the 1960s and persisted into the mid 1970s. It was also used by some soldiers in Vietnam. Professors such as Tim Leary at Harvard, and novelists such as Ken Kesey promoted LSD as a mind expanding experience. Within that culture a not uncommon method of distributing LSD was through a punch type drink called Kool-Aid. From this era we have books such as Tom Wolf's 1968 book "Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test". At that time Kool-Aid was also heavily advertised on television. This implies that "what flavor Kool-Aid have you been drinking?" and similar variations of this phrase, have the same meaning as the often used phrase today "what have you been smoking?" This is certainly the intended meaning of some of the users of this phrase variation.

In 1968 possession of LSD became illegal in the United States, and in 1970 LSD became a schedule 1 drug of the Controlled Substances Act, making illegal to manufacture, buy, possess, process, or distribute without a license. In 1971 LSD was listed in the United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances. A history of LSD and its use may be found on a History Channel documentary, [[1]]

Due to changing laws and the decline of the Hippie drug culture LSD use trailed off in the 1970s, with a defining moment being the Jonestown Massacre[[]]. Jonestone was a commune that had moved to Guyana. Drug use was common in the cult, [[2]]. However, on a day in November 1978 the punch was intentionally spiked with poison and followers were forced to drink it at gunpoint by their leader [[]]. We reasonably conclude that the phrase variation, "Don't drink the Kool-Aid" is an allusion to these events, and thus is a warning that bad things will happen if a person takes up an idea or follows advice the phrase is targeted at.

In 2012 Chris Higgins wrote an article in the Atlantic Monthly entitled "Stop saying 'Drink the Kool-Aid'"[[]]. In this article he discusses the Jonestown Massacre at length, and then parenthetically at the end he suggests without any citation that the phrase "drink the Kool-Aid" is an order to drink poison laced Kool-Aid and he somewhat quizzically implores people to stop giving this order, i.e. to stop saying this.

86.233.234.10 (talk) 13:34, 4 July 2021 (UTC)

Recent edits to the article have improved the reference list. With those changes this alternative introduction does not look viable. The first two references are still weak, as they talk about Jonestown rather than the phrase. The fact that Jonestown was awful, and a Koolaid drink (actually a variation) was involved does not by itself tell us about the origin of this phrase.

90.78.4.220 (talk) 01:07, 13 July 2021 (UTC)

Citation Needed

This article is cited against articles in the popular press about the Jonestown tragedy. Not one cites a linquistic study done on the etymology of the phrases "what flavor of Kool-Aid have you been drinking" or "Drinking the Kool-Aid". I suggest that this wikipedia article itself might be giving this phrase an alternative meaning from the one people have been using it as - i.e. it is not neutral, and the informality of the citations appear to give it more weight than it should have.

Or .. does someone have a citation to a scholarly article or at least some study with formality on this phrase? Not just ~recent article in the popular press? If not, would it not be appropriate to add a 'citation needed' tag at the top, point out the definition given is based on popular articles rather than studies, and that others here in these talk pages (some of whom are old enough to have lived through the 70s) have suggested the LSD in the Kool-Aid meaning? 90.78.118.234 (talk) 13:06, 25 June 2021 (UTC)

In going through the citations, I came across another variation of the phrase, "Don't drink the Kool-Aid" which most probably does reference specifically the Jonestown tragedy. Thus we have "What king|flavor|type of Kool-Aid have you been drinking" phrase being followed by variations such as "don't drink the Kool-Aid" which might be intended to be sardonic twist on the first phrase. It looks to me that the current wiki might be taking an overly simplistic view combined with too much confidence given the lack of rigor in the citations.

90.78.118.234 (talk) 13:23, 25 June 2021 (UTC)

This might be a good reference as it speaks to the origin of the phrase. Ieva Watson writes: "Before 1978, you could drink “Kool-Aid” because it was a random cup of artificial fruit punch. Or you could trip – drink the “Electric Kool-Aid,” as Romney called it.[7] So far, no one has documented a solid example of “drink the Kool-Aid” used as a metaphor in writing or other recorded media prior to November 18, 1978."

https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=40212

90.78.4.220 (talk) 00:55, 13 July 2021 (UTC)

Alternative meaning > Acid Tests

I would change "Alternative Meaning" to "Acid Tests" giving it similar or equivalent stress. While not used figuratively in the book, reference to it's use as described in the book, IS used figuratively. In fact, use of the phrase "drinking the Kool-Aid" is rich, carrying both allusions with it: blind-faith and submitting to an extreme test. HalFonts (talk) 16:18, 29 September 2010 (UTC)

Agreed. By the way, I was one of those supporting this alternate meaning as the primary one. Now I bow down to the superior research in this article - I was wrong! XyKyWyKy (talk) 02:09, 17 April 2012 (UTC)

I'm somewhat confused about referene to the electric kool acid test in relation to this phrase, based on my knowledge I don't recall this ever being commonly used prior to the People's Temple massacre. I would also question the meaing provided in the opening sentence. This phrase alludes to someone who blindly follows false leadership to the point of their own self-destruction.

This has popped up again. A recent edit inserted an alternative "origin" of the phrase based on the events described in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test to the top of the article. I moved it down, shortened it, and called it "Alternative Usage", then noticed this discussion and changed the header to "Acid Tests" because I'm not convinced it's really an alternative usage, and that actually seemed the most neutral way to go. If "Drinking the Kool-Aid" has any link to the Acid Tests _as a figure of speech_, that should be citable. The direct links between the phrase and Jonestown are thoroughly documented. Otherwise, a sentence about the Acid Tests might be useful merely to distinguish it from the common usage. Thoughts? 216.15.21.250 (talk) 06:09, 20 November 2014 (UTC)

The phrase "acid test" was used in Wolfe's book, but what is lost on later generations is that kool-aid was a common way to consume LSD in the sixties, a drug that causes people to become "spaced out", sometimes to the point of having hallucinations and delusions. The insult "you drank the kool-aid" was suggesting that the person was a delusional "space cadet" who had bought into some weird political propaganda , and was usually used by conservatives with buzzcuts, against left-wing hippie types, and this was before the Jonestown massacre. The whole Jonestown connection is brand new to me, and I've never heard that until seeing this. There was never a connotation of doom. Maybe it's a generational thing, with younger people linking koolaid to Jonestown, and changing the meaning, while older people retain the original meaning. (The phrase "Acid Test" was a pun, because the normal meaning is a rigorous quality-control test that determines the durabilty or strength of something, whereas Kesey was also meaning "acid" as in LSD. The phrase "Acid test" (for taking LSD) was not used outside of Kesey's little group of LSD users, so it is a mistake to have "Acid Test" as a section heading, because the phrase wasn't generally associated with kool-aid until the book came out. Maybe re-title the section, "LSD and Kool-aid".) I'm not going to fix it, just pointing out how wrong this article is. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.147.120.93 (talk) 17:00, 31 October 2016 (UTC)

Yep. Read the book. I mean, it *was* a best-seller! Tom Wolfe was adept at creating and popularizing catch-phrases. Don't believe me? Try the google n-gram viewer: the phrase was in use before the Jonestown massacre in 1978, first appearing *after* the 1968 publication of the The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Just sayin. Lived through those times. Also: the phrase really took off when Reagan-era politicians started slinging it around: the Reagan economic plan forced the poor, the working classes to drink the kool-aid. Yeah, I recall that winter, Christmas, with entire families living in cardboard boxes under the elevated rail tracks. Criminal. 67.198.37.16 (talk) 21:43, 14 January 2018 (UTC)

Boomer here. I remember people using the original meaning BEFORE '78. So putting it at the top of the page would put it into chronological order... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2605:E000:1C03:4ED3:1887:EC9E:3758:A081 (talk) 01:56, 9 November 2020 (UTC)

Yes I ran into this today. This article is completely wrong. kool-aid was a common way to consume LSD in the early 70s. Also it was advertised repeatedly on television with various flavors, which is what gave rise to the ironic expression. The phrase was used in that context, and still is. I added one sentence to the top of wiki article and a wiki Nazi immediately deleted it. (What Kool Aid have you been drinking?) Show me one popular usage where asking what flavor of Kool Aid has someone been drinking alludes to suicide. I bet you can not even find one. 90.78.118.234 (talk) 12:48, 25 June 2021 (UTC)

A better explanation.

The following site has a much more accurate description of the origins of the phrase. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DrinkingTheKoolAid — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.147.120.93 (talk) 17:25, 31 October 2016 (UTC)

TV Tropes is not a reliable source as it allows user-generated content. Please read our guidelines on what is and is not a reliable source. Feinoha ^Talk 17:29, 31 October 2016 (UTC)

You don't get it. The description I linked to was, objectively, infinitely more accurate than this silly wikipedia article that seems like it was written by school children. If you prefer to have a stupid article rather than an accurate one, that's your problem. When provided with superior information, you should not cling to the existing shabby article as if protecting something vulnerable and sickly, but investigate the superior information and find some "reliable sources" that back up the facts. If you put up an article saying that the sky is yellow with black polka dots, and someone provides a link to "the sky is blue", you shouldn't dismiss it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.147.120.93 (talk) 09:25, 2 November 2016 (UTC)

I've added citable (acceptable) Wikipedia sources that not only lay out in detail what happened in Jonestown (many to most of whose deaths were not voluntary in the spirit of the use of this phrase), but also what both Kool-Aid and Flavor-Aid said in statements in 1978 after Jonestown. I've also integrated the statement that the phrase is offensive to victims to the opening. Citations from direct or indirect victims of Jonestown stating that they have a problem with the use of the phrase "drinking the Kool-Aid" are not difficult to find today. Skybunny (talk) 07:20, 12 June 2019 (UTC)

"Guards armed with guns and crossbows had been ordered to shoot those who fled the Jonestown pavilion as Jones lobbied for suicide" Lobby for is used incorrectly or even misleadingly here. It always includes the element of petition to higher authority — that's the reason we use it instead of other verbs — and Jones himself was the highest authority in the community. It would be more correct to use a phrase like "urged his followers to suicide"[noun] or "urged the faithful to suicide."99.93.9.16 (talk) 17:43, 12 May 2020 (UTC)

“spoke of finding packets of "cool aid" (sic)”

The pronunciation is the same, so how would anyone know if they were saying Kool-Aid or cool aid? 82.36.70.45 (talk) 16:55, 27 July 2023 (UTC)