<P> "Drinking the Kool - Aid" is an expression commonly used in the United States that refers to a person who believes in a possibly doomed or dangerous idea because of perceived potential high rewards . The phrase often carries a negative connotation . It can also be used ironically or humorously to refer to accepting an idea or changing a preference due to popularity, peer pressure, or persuasion . In recent years it has evolved further to mean extreme dedication to a cause or purpose, so extreme that one would "Drink the Kool - Aid" and die for the cause . </P> <P> The phrase derives from the November 1978 Jonestown deaths in which over 900 members of the Peoples Temple died by drinking a powdered drink mix laced with cyanide . Most voluntarily committed suicide while the rest were killed by forced ingestion of the poison . The powdered drink mix used might not have been Kool - Aid but could have been the competing brand Flavor Aid . However this is disputed as the commune had both among thier supplies . </P> <P> On November 18, 1978, Jones ordered that the members of Representative Leo Ryan's party be killed after several defectors chose to leave with the party . Residents of the commune later committed suicide by drinking a flavored beverage laced with potassium cyanide, some were forced to drink it, some (such as small children) drank it unknowingly . Roughly 918 people died . </P>

Where does the term drinking the kool aid come from