Is that a Jonestown reference? I always thought it was referring to Woodstock or something where people were telling each other "Don't drink the purple Kool-Aid" because it was laced with a drug that would make you sick.
No?
Anyway, your point is 100 percent correct: "Drinking the Kool-Aid" is a played-out phrase. If the term "jump the shark" hadn't already "jumped the shark" I would say that "drinking the Kool-Aid" had jumped the shark.
Woodstock was "Don't eat the brown acid."
"Jumping the shark came from the TV show, Happy Days.
“Every level he goes to, he is going to compete. They will know who he is at every level he goes to.” -- ED on EDLC
...the 2-2 to Woodsen and here it comes...and it is swung on and missed! And Tom Browning has pitched a perfect game! Twenty-seven outs in a row, and he is being mobbed by his teammates, just to the thirdbase side of the mound.
In the name of Sheldon Cooper word mincing, sometimes the well-known name brand is used because of its familiarity, even though another brand name of the same basic product might axshoeallee be the one you are using. My kids ask for a tylenol, we go get them the Great Value ibuprofen because.........we knew what they meant.
I will remember though, if I ever use the expression (which is doubtful because I'm not a fan of cliches), I'll make sure I say "drinking the FlavorAid," but I'm not gonna correct someone who uses the colloquial expression.
"Rounding 3rd and heading for home, good night everybody"
"Rounding 3rd and heading for home, good night everybody"
I believe it was the ABC sketch comedy show Fridays that did a Jonestown skit that went:
Person 1 - I'm hot.
Person 2 - I'm thirsty.
Person 3 - I want to commit mass suicide.
Then a mock Mr. Kool busts through wall, declares "Oh yeah!", and distributes juice to people who immediately keel over.
Needless to say, I highly approve of inappropriate Jonestown jokes.
Watch out where the huskies go.Originally Posted by Mike Thierry
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
That would qualify as a smart inappropriate Jonestown sketch. Quite different, I think, than people just throwing the "drink the Kool-Aid" phrase into every sentence as a way to imply something banal like "I don't agree with the consensus."
Anyway, people can say whatever they want. This particular expression just grates on me, that's all.
“Every level he goes to, he is going to compete. They will know who he is at every level he goes to.” -- ED on EDLC
I doubt most people are consciously referencing Jonestown when they talk about "drinking the Kool-Aid." There are plenty of colloquialisms that folks don't know the etymology.
Last edited by Crumbley; 01-10-2013 at 10:00 AM.
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