Drink the Kool-Aid
Meaning
To uncritically accept and enthusiastically embrace a particular belief or ideology, often with a dangerous or ill-advised outcome.
Origin
The phrase "drink the Kool-Aid" directly references the tragic events of November 18, 1978, in Jonestown, Guyana. On that day, over 900 members of the Peoples Temple cult, led by Jim Jones, died in a mass murder-suicide. They were instructed to drink a grape-flavored drink laced with cyanide and sedatives. While the actual beverage used was Flavor Aid, a similar powdered soft drink, "Kool-Aid" became the more commonly recognized brand in the public consciousness, solidifying the phrase as a chilling metaphor for blind obedience to a charismatic but destructive leader or ideology.
Examples
- After attending a few of their corporate retreats, he really started to drink the Kool-Aid about the company's new, unrealistic mission.
- It's hard to reason with her; she's completely drunk the Kool-Aid on that conspiracy theory.