# Um...they didn't drink the Kool-Aid **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 28, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-they-didnt-drink-the-kool-aid/328388 "2005-10-28T23:26:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-they-didnt-drink-the-kool-aid/328388/1 "2005-10-28T23:26:49Z")
So stop it, people. Stop saying “…drank the Kool-Aid” unless you are complaining that there is none left in your fridge. Because the metaphor that expresses an adoption of a practice with suicidally religious zeal is more appropritely “Drank the [Flavor-aid](http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/food/kool-aid-faq.html)” > [@](#): > > ## XX. What kind of Kool-Aid was consumed at Jonestown Guyana? > > It is a popular misconception that 900 followers of cult leader Jim Jones > committed suicide by drinking Grape Kool-Aid laced with cyanide at their > commune in Jonestown Guyana in the late 1970’s. This is not true. The > followers of Jones actually drank cyanide laced Flavor-aid, a cheap > imitation of Kool-Aid. The Flavor-aid flavor they consumed was grape. > Therefore, Kool-Aid played no part in this tragedy. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-they-didnt-drink-the-kool-aid/328388/2 "2005-10-28T23:45:10Z")
You actually think people are going to start doing something just because it makes proper sense? Bwahahahaha! ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-they-didnt-drink-the-kool-aid/328388/3 "2005-10-28T23:47:30Z")
True enough and not exactly news. What brought on this relevation? You’d think Kraft Foods would be advertising it as “Cyanide free since 1927!” ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-they-didnt-drink-the-kool-aid/328388/4 "2005-10-29T01:20:10Z")
They might have bought and drunk Flavor-aid in Jonestown Guyana, but we drink Kool-Aid in the USA. The Flavor-aid will kill you, everybody knows that. Now where did those Australian Musk Life Savers go, I have to hand out candy. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-they-didnt-drink-the-kool-aid/328388/5 "2005-10-29T01:29:28Z")
But “drinking the Kool-Aid” doesn’t mean “you have embraced the religion.” It’s only because you’ve ALREADY embraced the religion that you’re drinking the Kool-Aid. And after you drink the Kool-Aid, you’re dead. So if you’re doing something today, you cannot have drunk the Kool-Aid yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-they-didnt-drink-the-kool-aid/328388/6 "2005-10-29T01:30:18Z")
Jones was a cheap bastard. Did he really think he’d need the 3 cents a gallon he saved on flavored drink mix in the next life? Christ! I mean, that’s like hanging yourself with twine, or committing seppuku with a Home Shopping Network sword. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-they-didnt-drink-the-kool-aid/328388/7 "2005-10-29T01:40:36Z")
Yeah, we’ve been through this. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=307736&highlight=kool-aid](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=307736&highlight=kool-aid) ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-they-didnt-drink-the-kool-aid/328388/8 "2005-10-29T05:59:10Z")
Well, my boycott of Kool-Aid ends today. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-they-didnt-drink-the-kool-aid/328388/9 "2005-10-29T07:16:55Z")
> [@Cardinal](#): > > Yeah, we’ve been through this. > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=307736&highlight=kool-aid](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=307736&highlight=kool-aid) Well I, for one, am GLAD that **Inigo Montoya** brought this up. I’ve been hearing this phrase a lot in the news all of a sudden" (or at least it seems like all of a sudden) and thinking they were likely referring to the Jim Jones thing", but not sure. Thanks for clearing it up. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-they-didnt-drink-the-kool-aid/328388/10 "2005-10-29T08:38:12Z")
This is kinda silly. You’re gonna argue trademarks? “Koolaid” is as nearly generic a term as “Kleenex,” “Scotch tape,” “Dumpster,” and “Day-glo.” Unless you’re writing about Jonestown in a newspaper or some sort of official document, with like footnotes and junk, saying “Koolaid” is no less “OK” than saying “Pass me the superglue” when the actual product might be “Krazy Glue.” Referring to something by its proper trademark is not enforceable by law. It’s up to the trademark holder to rigidly protect its own trademark by always taking care to refer to it accurately; it’s not really anyone else’s obligation to do so. You can’t use someone else’s trademark for commercial reasons, but there’s really no other restriction. You don’t have to say “Puffs[sup]®[/sup] brand facial tissues”; you can actually just say _kleenex_, and not get hauled into court for it. Try it: if you say “Bob drank the flavor-aid,” you’re more than likely gonna get a response like “what’s flavor aid? what are you trying to say?” The established idiom, like it or not, is “drank the koolaid.” There’s no arguing with idioms; they are what they are, they mean what they mean. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-they-didnt-drink-the-kool-aid/328388/11 "2005-10-29T12:41:37Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > So stop it, people. Stop saying “…drank the Kool-Aid” unless you are complaining that there is none left in your fridge. Because the metaphor that expresses an adoption of a practice with suicidally religious zeal is more appropritely “Drank the [Flavor-aid](http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/food/kool-aid-faq.html)” Right. They drank flavor-aid brand Kool-Aid. Face it, lissener is exactly right. Calling it Flavor-aid would cause more confusion than anything. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-they-didnt-drink-the-kool-aid/328388/12 "2005-10-29T15:18:53Z")
When it comes to getting facts straight, \*\*Inigo Montoya \*\* has definitely “Drank the Kool-Aid!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-they-didnt-drink-the-kool-aid/328388/13 "2005-10-29T21:28:18Z")
“Has Drank” **Chao**? And you split it, too! Uuurrrrrrrgggggh. Actually, I have it on good authority that Jim had requested Kool Aid specifically, but the disciple who went to the grocer thought he’d save some money by getting the cheaper knock off. Jim, in a fury, dumped a jug of cyanide he just happened to have handy into the punchbowl while raging, “Flavor Aid? You nincompoop! That stuff’s gross! Might as well dump this bleach in it–couldn’t make it any worse, could it!” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-they-didnt-drink-the-kool-aid/328388/14 "2005-10-29T21:48:34Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > The established idiom, like it or not, is “drank the koolaid.” There’s no arguing with idioms; they are what they are, they mean what they mean. Exactly. It might be factually wrong, but it wouldn’t be the first idiom to be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-they-didnt-drink-the-kool-aid/328388/15 "2005-10-31T13:23:12Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > “Has Drank” **Chao**? And you split it, too! Uuurrrrrrrgggggh. > > Actually, I have it on good authority that Jim had requested Kool Aid specifically, but the disciple who went to the grocer thought he’d save some money by getting the cheaper knock off. Jim, in a fury, dumped a jug of cyanide he just happened to have handy into the punchbowl while raging, “Flavor Aid? You nincompoop! That stuff’s gross! Might as well dump this bleach in it–couldn’t make it any worse, could it!” :smack: Major grammar faux pas! Geeezuz. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-they-didnt-drink-the-kool-aid/328388/16 "2005-10-31T15:25:49Z")
Other things you can productively spend your time complaining about: Spam: It’s a trademark for a canned meat product. Gay: A gay person is someone who is happy and carefree. I got a million of 'em…