# Grape Koolaid a farce? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 15, 2012, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-koolaid-a-farce/612906 "2012-02-15T05:58:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-koolaid-a-farce/612906/61 "2012-02-18T22:39:05Z")
Interesting. I never knew Kool-Aid was comparable to the “watermelon and fried chicken” racist stereotype. Thanks for the link. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-koolaid-a-farce/612906/62 "2012-02-19T01:15:51Z")
> [@Pablo\_O\_Malley](#): > > why does everyone think it was koolaid, to the extent ‘drinking the koolaid’ has become part of the lexicon I suspect the expression ‘drinking the koolaid’ is not solely an allusion to the Jonestown massacre, but also owes something to [The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test](http://www.amazon.com/Electric-Kool-Aid-Acid-Test/dp/031242759X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329613895&sr=8-1), wherein people who drank the ‘special’ Kool-Aid’ (including some who did not know why it was special) got a very special experience. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-koolaid-a-farce/612906/63 "2012-02-28T03:53:35Z")
On my cable system, anyway, the program “Final Report” will air an ep on the Jonestown Massacre tomorrow. Usually any doc on this subject uses the same bit of archive footage showing Jones opening the case showing both Kool-Ade and Flavor Aid. I don’t know that there’s still any question about whether or not both mixes were present, but just in case. I still don’t think it’s known–or knowable–whether or not only one mix or both were used in the event, but there are some ardent belivers that it was only Flavor Aid, and not Kool-Aid. I think I’ll refer to them as the “Flavers.” ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-koolaid-a-farce/612906/64 "2012-02-28T03:57:50Z")
But those who “drank the koolaid” died as it was poisoned, they also did so at gunpoint supposedly(at least some). But in slang use someone who has drank the koolaid is a sucker who believes in the propaganda, they are brainwashed or drugged to the point of obedience. I don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-koolaid-a-farce/612906/65 "2012-02-28T07:30:36Z")
The implications of the term “drank the Koolaid” came from the initial reports of the Jonestown incident, which said that people there willingly drank whatever the beverage was. The initial reports also said that the beverage was Koolaid. The term and its definition were established long before the final investigation of the incident. As in most things, facts were irrelevant. People don’t change their definitions and wordings of slang terms based on definitive commission reports that they learn of long after they have started using the terms. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-koolaid-a-farce/612906/66 "2012-02-29T02:05:31Z")
And [here](http://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm119/badger60/?action=view¤t=IMG_5775.jpg) is a rather bad quality (but it’s the best I got) cap of the boxes contained in the case. You’ll see “Flavor-Aid” in a yellowish box on the left, and “Kool-Aid” in a reddish box at the right. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-koolaid-a-farce/612906/67 "2012-02-29T14:35:10Z")
Well, as long as we’re posting stuff about Jonestown: [Top 10 Incredible Recordings](http://listverse.com/2007/07/15/top-10-incredible-recordings/). Number 9 is a 30-minute audio recording of the last moments of Jonestown, as Jim Jones encourages his followers to “drink the Kool-Aid” and people poison themselves in the background. It’s more than a bit disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-koolaid-a-farce/612906/68 "2012-03-08T00:46:36Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > I haven’t seen that word before. I think I’ll Google it… Look up “usufruct”, too. Also, I still have my Widget, a brand name once owned by Gillette for their multi-razor-bladed scraper > **[Yahoo Search - Web Search](https://search.yahoo.com/)** > > The search engine that helps you find exactly what you're looking for. Find the most relevant information, video, images, and answers from all across the Web. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-koolaid-a-farce/612906.md?page=3)