Most might not expect its origin to be so grim.
User TobiasDid posted on the Ask an American subreddit: “We don’t have this stuff where I live. I know it’s a drink, and I know in the commercial a big jug man busts through a wall and says ”Oh yeah!”
“But what kind of drink is it? Is it like a soda? I’ve got a feeling it comes in a powder, but that could be completely wrong. Also, I’ve heard the expression ‘to drink the kool-aid’, which I do not believe is a literal thing. I think it has some sort of double meaning, but I don’t know what it is. Help me you clever Americans!”
Many users were eager to explain the drink’s nature, but the discussion turned somber when addressing the origin of the phrase ‘don’t drink the Kool-Aid,’ which is linked to a tragic event that shocked the nation.
The phrase traces back to the 1978 Jonestown tragedy in Guyana, where over 900 people perished in a mass murder-suicide orchestrated by an American cult.
On November 18, 1978, cult leader Jim Jones coerced his followers into drinking a fruit-flavored beverage mixed with cyanide. It has been suggested that this was either Kool-Aid or a similar product.
One Reddit user explained: “Drinking the Kool Aid means ‘buying in to an idea unequivocally’ and refers to the Jonestown Massacre.”
Another user remarked: “This was a perfect question to go along with today’s thread of uniquely American phrases. “Drink the Kool-Aid” is so familiar here that many of us use it automatically to imply brainwashing.”
A third added: “‘Drinking the Kool-Aid’ is a reference to the [Jim Jones massacre]. Ironically, the flavoring used was apparently Flavor Aid.
“Of course, not everyone at Jonestown went to their deaths willingly- it’s used for the sort of person who would kill themselves because their idol said so.”
Understanding this background sheds light on how language and history intertwine.