The idiomatic expression "drinking the Kool-Aid" was originally a reference to the Merry Pranksters, a group of people associated with novelist Ken Kesey who in the early 1960's traveled around the United States and held events called "Acid Tests", where LSD-laced Kool-Aid was passed out to the public (LSD was legal at that time). Those who "drank the Kool-Aid" passed the "Acid Test." "Drinking the Kool-Aid" in that context meant accepting the LSD drug culture, and the Pranksters' "turned on" point of view."Drinking the Kool-Aid" is also now closely associated with the 1978 cult mass-suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. Jim Jones, the leader of the Peoples Temple, convinced his followers to move to Jonestown. Late in the year he then ordered his flock to commit suicide by drinking grape-flavored Flavor Aid laced with potassium cyanide. In what is now commonly called the "Jonestown Massacre," 913 of the 1100 Jonestown residents drank the brew and died. (The discrepancy between the idiom and the actual occurrence is likely due to Flavor Aid's relative obscurity versus the easily recognizable Kool-Aid.)One lasting legacy of the Jonestown tragedy is the saying, "Don’t drink the Kool-Aid." This has come to mean, "Don’t trust any group you find to be a little on the kooky side," or "Whatever they tell you, don't believe it too strongly."The phrase can also be used in the opposite sense to indicate that one has blindly embraced a particular philosophy or perspective (a "Kool-Aid Drinker"). This usage is generally limited to those in or commenting on United States politics, but also appears in discussions on computer technology, where someone who is a staunch advocate for a particular technology is described as having "drunk the Kool-Aid". This is also frequently used in discussions about sports; when a fan makes an overly-optimistic prediction or hopeful statement, usually about a traditionally woeful team or franchise, others may comment that he is "drinking the Kool-Aid." This is the only usage of "Kool-Aid" that non-American speakers of English are likely to recognise.
I would like to meet any one who is thristy!!!
Recently, Kool-Aid and the Kool-Aid Man have made a comeback in the mainstream. Spurred by the popularity of comedian Dane Cook's "Kool-Aid Man" sketch, which featured Cook talking about a nightmare involving the talking bowl of punch, phrases such as "oh Yeah" and Kool-Aid references are becoming widely used again. In the first episode of the cartoon series Family Guy, the Kool-Aid man made a cameo appearance, while bursting through a wall. In a later episode of Family Guy, Peter accidentally crashes his car through the Kool-Aid Man's wall, prompting him to comment "You know, from the other side, that's really annoying..." Later, in the same episode, his wall is crashed through again just after he finished repairing it (he then dissolves into a state of rage). He also appears in the Family Guy Movie, at the premiere in the opening frame, as the date of Drew Barrymore. When asked by the press on the red carpet if "Things are going well with Drew", he replies with an "Oh yeah!"Kool-Aid is the name of an album and a song by British band Big Audio Dynamite II, even though Kool-Aid is not available in the UK.The Kool-Aid Man also appears in a strip from the online comic The Perry Bible Fellowship entitled "Kids Are Thirsty."Because of its supposed role in past cult activities, Kool-Aid has also come to acquire a dark reference to the occult, though often in a whimsically humorous context.