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Post by gale w on Sept 10, 2017 8:28:33 GMT
Back story-I have 2 relatives that are very gung-ho about essential oils. I'm sure you know the type. Anyway, I have a few oils but I pick them only based on the scent plus some piney ones for cold season. I don't believe they cure anything but I like smelling certain smells and I like piney smells when I'm stuffed up. So anyway, I never use the things because I won't diffuse in the house (We have fish tanks and I'm just not willing to chance it) and won't use them neat and won't ingest. So I occasionally will put some on a cotton ball and put it near or under my pillow (like lavender or sandalwood) and have some personal sniffers that I rarely remember to use. I decided to buy an essential oil necklace to try.
When I showed the necklace to my son, he joked that I "drank the kool-aid". We laughed about it and that was it. Later he mentioned it to my older daughter and she said that phrase is offensive to some people-because of Jonestown and all. It didn't offend her-she was just letting us know that some feel it's offensive. I've never heard of it being one of the taboo non-pc phrases going around but I figured I'd ask the all-knowing refupeas. So is it offensive?
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Post by rainangel on Sept 10, 2017 8:42:17 GMT
Well I guess I wouldn't use it around people who are survivors of Jonestown. Or related to people who died there.
But as a general phrase it would have the same meaning to me as 'being brainwashed'. So not offensive.
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Post by peachiceteas on Sept 10, 2017 8:56:10 GMT
I never knew the origin of the phrase - probably because I live in the UK and we don't have Kool Aid here. I wasn't aware of the story but I have just read up about it but it's long and complex.
I would be interested to know why it has become a phrase that is OK to use. Most people wouldn't make jokes about the Holocaust, and from what I have briefly read, whilst I get that the two incidents are very different but in some ways, these people in Jonestown were in a lightly-similar situation that they were being so brainwashed that they weren't really consenting or giving their own choice. These were innocent people too who fell into a situation that allowed them to be brainwashed and ultimately killed. Sounds like those who were reluctant and tried to hide from it were actually just shot on the spot too.
It's an expression that has come out of hundreds of people being killed so I kind of feel uncomfortable about it now I have read about it.
I don't know anything about it really other than what I have spent the last 15 minutes reading online. So please correct me if I am wrong.
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Post by whipea on Sept 10, 2017 9:37:45 GMT
Yes, over 900 lives lost.
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Post by LisaDV on Sept 10, 2017 10:07:43 GMT
I know DH just used this the other day while we were talking about something. I didn't find it offensive then, I just thought a bunch of brainwashed people. However, I wasn't really connecting it with Jonestown in my head. When you actually put it in perspective, I can see it now as being offensive. I won't personally be offended if someone uses it, but I will try not to use it myself.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2017 10:16:18 GMT
I think there are a lot of phrases that once you think about the origin become uncomfortable to continue using. This one doesn't offend me but I can see how it isn't the best choice of expression.
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Post by peachiceteas on Sept 10, 2017 10:25:20 GMT
I know DH just used this the other day while we were talking about something. I didn't find it offensive then, I just thought a bunch of brainwashed people. However, I wasn't really connecting it with Jonestown in my head. When you actually put it in perspective, I can see it now as being offensive. I won't personally be offended if someone uses it, but I will try not to use it myself. This ^ I won't use it now I understand it (to be honest it's not an expression I've ever used, again we don't have kool aid here) and I wouldnt be offended if I saw or heard it anywhere, but I can't use a phrase that stems from 900 people being killed. |
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Post by peasapie on Sept 10, 2017 10:28:15 GMT
It is used in a derogatory way to imply a person is mindlessly following the crowd. As happened in Jonestown. Many would find being told they were mindlessly following the crowd less than desirable.
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Post by disneypal on Sept 10, 2017 11:22:26 GMT
I hear a lot of people use the phrase in a funny/joking way as you mentioned.
While I wouldn't say the phrase offends me, I will say that I have never liked it and if someone uses it around me, I don't laugh....a lot of people died - I don't understand how this phrase got to be used the way it has...it is sad and tragic and I don't think people should say it.
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Post by hop2 on Sept 10, 2017 11:58:10 GMT
I Don't think I use the phrase myself, but I'm not offended by it.
It is not necessarily correct depending on where you read. Some sources say 'kool aide' was not used at jones town but 'flavor aide' was. Other sources say both were mixed.
While I see why some think it offensive, I've always thought it was a cautionary phrase as in 'dont drink the kool aide' and some how a cautionary statement seems less offensive to me? ( not that it is less offensive ) but we are more likely in our family to straight out refer to a cult. Like if a group seems to be getting a bit peer pressury we'd say is 'xgroup trying to become a cult' but that's probably not any less offensive.
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anniebygaslight
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Post by anniebygaslight on Sept 10, 2017 12:02:04 GMT
I remember having to ask for an explanation on here, or maybe it was on the old forum, as I had no idea what it meant. (I'm English).
It doesn't seem a particularly funny or appropriate phrase to use to me, given the circumstances.
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Post by baslp on Sept 10, 2017 12:22:04 GMT
I also do not use it,but I am not offended by it .
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Post by kelbel827 on Sept 10, 2017 12:26:05 GMT
Things that happen in the world suck. People will always be offended by something. I probably use phrases that offend people all the time. I'm going to continue saying what I say.
I don't use this phrase but it's not offensive to me. Say it all you want.
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maryannscraps
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Post by maryannscraps on Sept 10, 2017 12:37:09 GMT
I read a book about the Jonestown massacre a few years ago, and the whole story was so tragic and awful. I'm not offended, but it does make me sad when I hear it.
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Post by scrapsotime on Sept 10, 2017 12:43:14 GMT
When I hear it or see this phrase my mind flashes to all those bodies on the ground. I don't know if I would say it's offensive, but I don't like it for that reason.
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amom23
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Post by amom23 on Sept 10, 2017 13:21:38 GMT
I think after a certain age people don't really know/remember what Jonestown was about. So for younger people the phrase is really just about being a follower in the general sense.
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Post by littlemama on Sept 10, 2017 13:27:30 GMT
I think it is a phrase that has become part of the language.
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Peamac
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Post by Peamac on Sept 10, 2017 13:30:15 GMT
I'm old enough to remember hearing about Jonestown on the news when it happened. I don't use the phrase, but I'm not offended by it either. I think that while 900 lives are 900 too many to have lost there, the chances of a friend or relative hearing me use that phrase (if I ever did use it) would be slim to none. I don't think the OP's son's use of it would have been offensive (since clearly no one related to the Jonestown victims was in the OP's home to hear it), and I do think it is now mostly used as a "cautionary tale", as a PP mentioned.
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Post by Spongemom Scrappants on Sept 10, 2017 13:42:53 GMT
I think there are a lot of phrases that once you think about the origin become uncomfortable to continue using. This one doesn't offend me but I can see how it isn't the best choice of expression. That basically sums up my thoughts as well. |
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Post by quinlove on Sept 10, 2017 13:57:53 GMT
I think it is a phrase that has become part of the language. I think you're right. I listen to a lot of sports radio and the guys on there use it once in a while. Like, if someone is being all hyped up and they believed the hype, they will use the phrase. I can totally see how some people could be offended by this. OTOH, I'm not easily offended. |
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Post by pondrunner on Sept 10, 2017 14:03:05 GMT
I feel that this is not so much a phrase that one should "be offended by" and more a phrase that has a particular origin which is worth knowing about.
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Post by melanell on Sept 10, 2017 14:05:41 GMT
I also think that it is absolutely one of those things that many people say without even knowing the backstory. (Although, (not that it really matters) I believe that it is also factually off a bit, since I don't think it was actually Kool-Aid brand.)
Anyway, I don't think it is offensive. I think it could be seen as insensitive to some,though.
My son often points out that we use a fair few other sayings that invoke disturbing imagery as well. "More than one way to skin a cat" or "kill two birds with one stone" for instance. As a great animal lover he refuses to say those things and calls me out when I say them. I am getting better at catching myself before I say them, but every so often I forget.
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Post by melanell on Sept 10, 2017 14:07:51 GMT
I guess that members of cults might be offended. Or someone thinking you are saying that something they are doing is cult-like may be offended. But again, that's only if they know the meaning behind the saying.
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Post by epeanymous on Sept 10, 2017 14:08:18 GMT
It was Flavor-Aid!
Anyhow, I have watched the Jonestown documentaries and read a half-dozen books about it, including by survivors, so it is not a phrase I use or am comfortable using, but I think it is part of the lexicon at this point and I don't know that I would use "offensive" so much as "inaccurate" or "uncomfortable."
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georgiapea
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Post by georgiapea on Sept 10, 2017 14:55:04 GMT
It just means you fell for a line of malarky.
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Post by worrywart on Sept 10, 2017 15:03:14 GMT
I don't use this expression but I don't really find it offensive. Having said that, if someone said it directly to me I may be offended that they are in a way ridiculing my choices/opinions.
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Post by burningfeather on Sept 10, 2017 15:18:06 GMT
Well I guess I wouldn't use it around people who are survivors of Jonestown. Or related to people who died there. But as a general phrase it would have the same meaning to me as 'being brainwashed'. So not offensive. So an offensive phrase is only offensive if it's used around people that it applies to? I probably wouldn't go with that line of thinking. |
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katybee
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Post by katybee on Sept 10, 2017 15:31:49 GMT
There are lots and lots common phrases we use that have very offensive origins. Most people don't even know it. Paddy wagon, peanut gallery, getting "gyped", no can do, basket-case, calling a spade a spade, grandfather clause, boho, and so many more. I would imagine that we all have used one of these terms now and again...
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Post by 950nancy on Sept 10, 2017 15:35:04 GMT
I remember the tragedy and don't think the saying is offensive. I do think it is a good idea to know where sayings come from so you can make sure that what are are trying to say is what you are actually saying.
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katybee
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Post by katybee on Sept 10, 2017 15:41:48 GMT
There are lots and lots common phrases we use that have very offensive origins. Most people don't even know it. Paddy wagon, peanut gallery, getting "gyped", no can do, basket-case, calling a spade a spade, grandfather clause, boho, and so many more. I would imagine that we all have used one of these terms now and again... Excellent point and good examples. But help me understand the offensive origin of boho. thanks. It was a racial slur used against those of Bohemian descent. Also lumped in with "Gypsy" and the whole cultural appropriation thing. Listen--I'm guilty. I have a boho-chic Pinterest board.  |
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