This week’s theme
Words related to food

This week’s words
jambalaya
farraginous
kool-aid
ragout
immolate

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(KOOL-ayd)

MEANING:

noun: Something accepted without question. Usually used in the phrase “to drink the kool-aid”: to accept something unquestioningly or to demonstrate unquestioning loyalty.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Kool-Aid, a powdered flavored drink introduced in 1927. It was earlier known as Kool-Ade, from respelling of cool + -ade (a fruit drink, as in lemonade). Earliest documented use: 1927.

NOTES:

Jim Jones was the leader of a cult named Peoples Temple in Jonestown, Guyana. In 1978, he had more than 900 of his followers killed in a murder-suicide by drinking Kool-Aid and/or Flavor-Aid laced with cyanide. This event gave birth to the figure of speech “to drink the kool-aid”.

USAGE:

“Not all Shakespeare’s fans are glassy-eyed kool-aid quaffers.”
James Gingell; Rejecting the Cult of Bardolatry Does Not Make You a Philistine; The Guardian (London, UK); May 20, 2016.

“[Trump’s] answers -- Build a wall! Deport 11 million illegals! Make America great again! Bomb the s--- out of ISIS! -- are so appealingly (and appallingly) simple, it’s no wonder so many people are gulping down the Kool-Aid.”
Doug Elmets; For Reagan Adviser, Voting for Hillary is an Easy Call; The Sacramento Bee (California); Jun 9, 2016.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: