drink the kool-aid (1982, 1985)

[Ben Zimmer]

On Sat, Aug 14, 2010 at 12:56 AM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> But also check the OED citations for "Kool-Aid". The earliest is 1927
> (Kool-Ade), but there is a Facts on File quote from 1978 referring
> specifically to Jonestown. The interesting one is the one that follows
> after the one for Jonestown:
>
>> 1979 Washington Post 14 Jan. G8/1 No doubt about it, if he had ordered
>> the SS to pass around the Kool-Aid [at the Nuremberg rally], all those
>> crewcut Nazis would have tossed it back with the same fervor with
>> which they cheered Hess' ravings.
>
> It does not contain the specific phrasing "drink the Kool-Aid", but it
> does carry the same meaning.

Noted by Bill Mullins in 2006:

http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0612D&L=ADS-L&P=R6440

--bgz


--
Ben Zimmer
http://benzimmer.com/

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