Films/Shows that introduced society to a new word/concept

[Plot Device]

One of the things I love about film its ability to impact culture in permanent ways, such as introducing words we never knew before. Here are some examples:

The movie War Games introduced the world to the concept of a "hacker." After that film, "hacker" became universally known to all. And then a movie entitled Hackers came out a few years later.

The movie Poltergeist introduced us to the concept of the "noisy ghost" embodied in the German word that makes up the film's title. We Americans had already posessed a few loose notions about some spirits being more restless than others, but that film gave it an actual and official word. And again, it's a word that is now univerally known.

The movie The Weatherman introduced us all to the phrase "camel toe."

And Borat has now made almost universal the previously little-used phrase "not so much."

The TV show Seinfeld is perhaps the all time king of introducing new words to every day culture, the most famous, in my opinion, being "shrinkage."

I think it's the ultimate compliment to the writer if he can introduce a never-before-heard-of concept/vocabulary word and then it instantly takes hold in the entire culture.




Any more??

[Marlys]

Certainly movies, TV, and books popularize terms and catch phrases (you're right about Seinfeld--here's a site with a list (http://seinfeld.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Seinfeld_sayings)) and sometimes they do coin entirely new words and concepts. Three from books: Catch-22 (Joseph Heller, from the novel of the same name), Big Brother (George Orwell, 1984), Utopia (Thomas More, Utopia).

But some of your examples don't quite work. The word "poltergeist" has been used in English for over a century and a half--certainly any kid who devoured Hans Holzer ghost-hunting books in the sixties and seventies or Zilpha Keatley Snyder's The Headless Cupid (not obscure--a 1972 Newbery Honor book) knew that it means "noisy ghost" well before the Spielberg movie came out. "Camel toe" was certainly around when Conan O'Brien debuted the character "Camel Toe Annie" on his show in 2001, four years before The Weather Man, and some sources date it as far back as the seventies or eighties.

Not trying to smack you, just make sure that as writers we get used to giving credit where credit is due.

[Plot Device]

Certainly movies, TV, and books popularize terms and catch phrases (you're right about Seinfeld--here's a site with a list (http://seinfeld.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Seinfeld_sayings)) and sometimes they do coin entirely new words and concepts. Three from books: Catch-22 (Joseph Heller, from the novel of the same name), Big Brother (George Orwell, 1984), Utopia (Thomas More, Utopia).

But some of your examples don't quite work. The word "poltergeist" has been used in English for over a century and a half--certainly any kid who devoured Hans Holzer ghost-hunting books in the sixties and seventies or Zilpha Keatley Snyder's The Headless Cupid (not obscure--a 1972 Newbery Honor book) knew that it means "noisy ghost" well before the Spielberg movie came out. "Camel toe" was certainly around when Conan O'Brien debuted the character "Camel Toe Annie" on his show in 2001, four years before The Weather Man, and some sources date it as far back as the seventies or eighties.

Not trying to smack you, just make sure that as writers we get used to giving credit where credit is due.


I don't take it as a smack. :) I don't mind if you can cite an earlier reference to these things.

How about this:

The COMMON EVERY DAY PERSON didn't now what a "filibuster" even was until Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

[LIVIN]

The movie The Weatherman introduced us all to the phrase "camel toe."

No offense, but that statement is laughable. Maybe it was introduced to you, but I'd heard that phrase a thousand times before that movie.

But, this brings up an interesting point.

I think it's the ultimate compliment to the writer if he can introduce a never-before-heard-of concept/vocabulary word and then it instantly takes hold in the entire culture.


Which is this... If I'd written camel toe into a script in say 2002, I would have considered it utterly commonplace. That being said, I try to avoid utterly commonplace. But, as you suggested, it was utterly new to you - so maybe I should go back and rethink all these things I think if as utterly commonplace and put them in my scripts.

We're talking about a question of originality.... and I have not composed my thoughts yet, but there's the pitch...

(Edit: I read Marlys post after typing this)

[LIVIN]

The COMMON EVERY DAY PERSON didn't now what a "filibuster" even was until Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

I learned about filibusters in 7th grade. :D

[clockwork]

I think Plot's talking about the introduction of an idea/theme/phrase into the wider public consciousness, not to individuals. So that if you were ask 100 people on the street, where did you first hear the expression, "sponge-worthy" most, but maybe not all, would say Seinfeld.

[Plot Device]

the introduction of an idea/theme/phrase into the wider public consciousness, not to individuals

Yes! Exactly! :)

[small axe]

And Borat has now made almost universal the previously little-used phrase "not so much."


I will defend the reputation of the glorious FIREFLY with six guns and rocketships blazing!

"Not so much" was a fav phrase of her Captain, and that was on national TV years before Borat. And a cult series on national TV counts as an introduction, methinks.

(At least, I'd never heard the phrase before. But sometimes you'll hear something "new" and it turns out a huge segment of the population has been using it for years. I saw Mitt Romney say "Who let the dogs out. Whoop, whoop." on tv just a few days ago, and I thought, "Out of touch with pop culture, much?" -- which I'd attribute to the Buffyverse, but realize it may be Val Speak from the 1980's! Gag me with a tubular grungy! But that happens when Black slang filters down into white pop culture: by the time the crackers use it, the bruthahs have dropped it like it's Pluto! HA!)

Other than that lapse into madness and infamy, I like your thread, it's ... "shiny" :) (a fav phrase of the cute stardrive mechanic girl on Firefly)

[JoNightshade]

I don't watch TV but we rent shows sometimes on Netflix. Lately I've been noticing that internet geek terminology is creeping into popular use. We've been watching the show 30 Rock and I notice a lot of internet slang on there. Interesting how terms migrate from an isolated sub-culture into the popular lexicon.

[paprikapink]

My kids think FYI is new.

[Plot Device]

I will defend the reputation of the glorious FIREFLY with six guns and rocketships blazing!

"Not so much" was a fav phrase of her Captain, and that was on national TV years before Borat. And a cult series on national TV counts as an introduction, methinks.

I have witnessed ONLY in the past 18 months (ie. ONLY since Borat) many an evening anchor on American network television, and Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, and even guest commentators on the Jim Lehrer News Hour, using the phrase "not so much" with that distinctly Lower East Side inflection. So I feel with confidence that it was indeed Borat that has only recently made it the "in" thing to say among American Progressives.

Now if only I could suss out who might have been the FIRST person to coin that now-popular (and perhaps over-used) Jonestown reference: "drink the Kool-Aid." I've only been hearing it for about two years now, even though Jonestown was decades ago.

[HeronW]

'Squeal like a pig' -- Deliverance

[Plot Device]

The first time I ever heard the sarcastic come back of "Ya THINK?" was in the film Adventures in Babysitting. Would anyone know of THAT film was what launched it into nationwide usage? Or was it already all over the place from some other source?

[LIVIN]

So I feel with confidence that it was indeed Borat that has only recently made it the "in" thing to say among American Progressives.

Oh, so we're talking about the "in" thing. How fetch.

I wouldn't know about the "in" thing, but I will say everything's merely a copy of a copy of a copy.

What else was I going to say? I forget. But maybe someone will tell me and I'll remember. Heck, maybe I'll even think it's new. And not remember that I ever forgot. Spooky. Anyway, I seem to gone off on a tangent. Or have I?

I don't know what you classify as the wider public consciousness. From your examples, me thinks your glasses might be a little foggy. Or perhaps I don't subscribe to the wider public consciousness weekly.

It seems I still have not composed my thoughts on the matter...

[Plot Device]

First time I ever heard "Been there, done that" (I actually heard it phrased as "Been there, done it, and got the T-shirt!") was when I was in Europe in 1992. An Irish girl in her 20's said it to me.

A year or two later I started hearing the phrase in American films and on TV as the much shorter "Been there, done that."

[Plot Device]

First time I heard the phrase "Go postal" was (I think ) the movie Clueless.

[LIVIN]

"Been there, done that."

I know I heard this commonly by 1990.

[LIVIN]

First time I heard the phrase "Go postal" was (I think ) the movie Clueless.

la la la (need characters, apparently)


The term derives from a series of incidents from 1986 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986) onward in which United States Postal Service (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Service) (USPS) workers shot and killed managers, fellow workers, and members of the police or general public.

[nielsty]

The phrase I remember the best from Clueless was "As if". At least it reached Denmark with that film. I don't know how common it was before Clueless in the States.

[small axe]

Oh, so we're talking about the "in" thing. How fetch.


Look, just stop saying 'fetch' ... it isn't going to happen. :D

Or something like that.

"drink the Kool-Aid."
I think that's an old Kool-aid advertisement from the 1960's (when marketing was simpler) ... now, say "Drink the PURPLE Kool-aid" and you're not only 'in' ... you may not get out alive!

It's an interesting question, how do phrases and ideas enter the consciousness and then migrate throughout a culture?

I read somewhere once that the most common source of such things is Scripture, and the second most common is Shakespeare. I'd hate to think BORAT is the third! ;) But if you told me SEINFELD was, I wouldn't be surprised, because it had its tentacles out there mining the sub-cultures and then redistributed things all across the world in single episodes.

There's a theory about "memes" I keep hearing about, and really should investigate: little packets of ideas which some say take on a life of their own and basically spread and mutate in human cultures. If you hear something for the first time that "sounds so right you swear you've heard it forever" ... that may be a meme clicking on inside you.

I'd bet much much more slang originates from Black and Gay culture than most Whites in the mainstream could even dream of ...

I digress.

It always strikes me as bizarre how you'll see these Third World people (I don't mean any disrespect by saying that, so please take none) on TV and they'll be wearing a T-shirt that says "Indianapolis Colts" or "Dr. Who" on it, right?

And you wonder: what does that mean to that person? What can it mean, it's a totally alien concept, it might as well be from another world to a kid starving or fighting a tribal holocaust in Africa.

He's dying of thirst in the Sudan, and wearing a "Coca-Cola. Share a Coke and A Smile" T-shirt with happy polar bears on it.

You see these kids protesting in Gaza, burning American flags, seemingly hating all things USA (which is their right, lets not argue politics) ... and they may want to burn America down, but they're wearing their Tupac t-shirt! It's gotta be strange ...

[Plot Device]

'Squeal like a pig' -- Deliverance


I was too young for Deliverance. Was that phrase NEVER used before that film?

[Plot Device]

The phrase I remember the best from Clueless was "As if". At least it reached Denmark with that film. I don't know how common it was before Clueless in the States.

:D

[Plot Device]

I don't watch TV but we rent shows sometimes on Netflix. Lately I've been noticing that internet geek terminology is creeping into popular use. We've been watching the show 30 Rock and I notice a lot of internet slang on there. Interesting how terms migrate from an isolated sub-culture into the popular lexicon.


Gimmie an example. :)

[Plot Device]

My kids think FYI is new.

Ouch. That needs a litte bit of enlightenment.

[DWSTXS]

I think 'squeal like a pig' was introduced by Deliverance......when we saw it.....that was the phrase to use for a while.........

Also..........from real life 'I am not a crook!' (Nixon in the 70's) was a phrase that caught on for a while........

I have actually created an excel spreadsheet with several thousand examples of these cultural bon mots from over the years.........and I use it often in my writing.

I love them.......and I could go on and on and on about them.........but hey....I'll shut up
now...........I don't want to be accused of giving anyone tired-head.

[Plot Device]

I think 'squeal like a pig' was introduced by Deliverance......when we saw it.....that was the phrase to use for a while.........

Also..........from real life 'I am not a crook!' (Nixon in the 70's) was a phrase that caught on for a while........

I have actually created an excel spreadsheet with several thousand examples of these cultural bon mots from over the years.........and I use it often in my writing.

I love them.......and I could go on and on and on about them.........but hey....I'll shut up
now...........I don't want to be accused of giving anyone tired-head.


This is good stuff. :)

The only problem with "I am NOT a crook!" is that it's self-referential. It points back to a specific person/event in real history, kind of like "I have a dream" and "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." I am more angling in on stuff that SEEMS to have come out of nowhere in particular, has a specific reference in a film ot TV show, and only AFTER that film/TV show did it absolutely take hold of/permeate/inform our culture.



Please share that spread sheet! Or at least the best 50 from it.

[Ziljon]

I remember the movie Swingers trying to do it with "money." Worked in the film, but I don't think it caught on in real life.

[DWSTXS]

Geek terminology - cultural phrases -
I call them 'cultural bon mots'.......some are more widely used, some sound brand new to those who have never heard them, while others will say 'that's been around for years!'

I seriously always thought that 'Drink the Kool-Aid' came about because of the Jim Jones Massacre in Guyana..........can anyone verify that for me? or have I got that wrong.......

I heard someone the other day say that they almost got caught 'driving in the 500 dollar lane'............when I asked for clarification.......it was explained that the '500 dollar lane' is the breakdown lane on the highway (the paved shoulder portion)...and if the police catch you driving on it, just to beat traffic or go around a traffic jam...you'll get a ticket...costing $500.

Now, I heard this when I was on an 'Amsterdam Date' (.a date in which one expects to smoke pot and have sex).....but it was a blind date, and when my date showed up with her 'Carl-mouth' (a description, or name, for anyone who speaks with a slur, or has a slight facial paralysis that causes them to speak slurred or slow….etc……from the Billy Bob Thornton movie) wearing her '40 acre bra' and her '60 inch thong' (large underwear that id rather not see)...I decided just to make it a quick date, so I took her out for quick '6 piece nug' (McDonald's 6 piece chicken mcnuggets. Consumed after heavy drinking or excessive pot smoking)...and then we had to make like a tree and leave, because the Mickey D's was next to a bunch of 'Abandominiums' (Abandoned row houses where drugs are used.) and she was getting hinky. Well, me too. She said she had a craving for 'alcopops' (Alcoholic Soda Pops. Modern day drinks with fruity flavor. like lemonade or strawberry flavored alcoholic drinks) So, we headed over to a 'Stop N Rob' (overpriced convenience stores) to get some. We pulled up in the parking lot where a bunch of hoodlums were taking a '6 pack challenge' (Consuming six beers within 15 minutes without vomiting )...they eyed me warily as I walked in....so, to show my street smarts, I nodded and greeted them 'What's the word?" I asked
'Thunderbird!' one replied
'What's the price?' I asked
'Thirty-twice!' he nodded and let me pass
I had to step over 'Aqualung' (a description of a bum….a homeless person…..) as I walked into the store and get our goodies....I totally ignored his proclaiming sign, announcing that he had the 'ass-cancer' (Rectal cancer…) and needing donations.
Inside the store....I grabbed a cup, and made myself an 'angry black-man' drink (a beverage consisting of every option on a fountain soda machine)....On the way home my date began talking about swapping DNA (having sex) with me....and I got scared, so I tried to ace-whip her (ace-whip....to beat someone down by irritating, annoying, or just flat-out boring them) into thinking I was a freak by telling her all the down and dirty stuff I was going to do in bed............she completely reversed the whip on me (reverse the whip......turn a situatuon around so that, instead of taking an ass-whipping, you are now giving it)...by saying 'that sounds like fun!'...and then I really got scared.....and now I was completely befuckled......you know? I ended it by explaining to her that instead of being FWB (friends with benefits)...or FB's (fu** buddies) ...that maybe we should just cool our jets and be besties. (best friends)
I took a bio-break (bathroom break) and when I got out, she was acting like a 'Bluetool' (one of those idjits that wears the bluetooth on their ear) talking to a girlfriend on the phone while her eyes shot daggers at me.

I knew I had to get rid of her....even if I had to start acting all Brokeback (self-explanatory) in front of her.......


anyway......................I got a bunch of these.........like 500+...(and that's not just Braggadocio - -outrageous boasting)..I've been collecting these for years...............I also have amassed 1300+ slang terms for drugs.....if anybody wants.......+ all the Hippie terminology you could ever ask for.......LOL........but, I think I've whipped your ass enough for now.........

[Plot Device]

I seriously always thought that 'Drink the Kool-Aid' came about because of the Jim Jones Massacre in Guyana..........can anyone verify that for me? or have I got that wrong...............

No, you are correct. It is a direct allusion to the tragedy. BUT I have only been hearing the EXPRESSION for the last two years, even though the Jonestown massacre was well nigh 30 years ago now. So I am wondering when THAT PRECISE EXPRESSION was first spawned. The thing about the expression is that it can be uttered with no explanation or backstory, it can be uttered as a stand-alone comment, and everyone "gets it." So who is the genius who coined it? and when?

[Plot Device]

DWSTXS

VERY funny stuff!!

You should probably PUIBLISH your spread sheet! I think it'll sell! Fer real! I am SO not kidding here!

Here's another one (unless you already have it):

I recall reading a few years ago (right after the release of Kill Bill)that young children (ages 10-15) were saying to each other "Don't make me go all Uma on you!" which is a reference to Uma Thurman's displays of emotionally charged (ie "crazy as a loon") violence on the silver screen. The actress was so charmed by the novelty of the expression, and her manager so impressed with the potential for a future audience of teens and young adults, that she signed on to do My Super Ex-Girlfriend. (Sadly, not a good career decision.)

[FinbarReilly]

Attempting a few words in edgewise;-)....

1) A lot of slang does come from the black community. Also, soda jerks from the '30's and the military in general (in the order of blacks, military, soda jerks). I know it sounds silly, but....

2) Kool-Aid: Even though it was grape Flav-R-Aid, the phrase goes back to a 1990 Usenet posting (at least), and almost always has a negative connotation. Some sports fans, for example, call themselves "Kool-Aid drinkers".

3) If I were going concepts, Star Trek (including its sequels and fandom) is probably the winner here, both in inspiration for gadgets, phrases, and actual science. Star Wars would be a close second. But, then again, I am an sf geek...Oh, and let's not forget Gibson and his works, which have mangled the dictionary on their own turf (note that Hackers mentions a "gibson"...).

4) If you really want some info on slang (history, etymologym, and word lists) you could do a lot worse than Flappers 2 Rappers (http://www.amazon.com/Flappers-Rappers-American-Youth-Slang/dp/0877796122).

FR

[clockwork]

Friends had a huge impact on disseminating phrases into the public consciousness. I'm sure there are dozens of examples but the two that come to mind are "We were on a break" (a concept I hadn't heard of before - that you could take a break without breaking up) and Joey's "How you doin'?"

Chances are if you say either of those phrases to 100 people on the street, more than most would know you're talking about Friends. That's what it means for something to be in the wider public consciousness.

I don't know what you classify as the wider public consciousness. From your examples, me thinks your glasses might be a little foggy. Or perhaps I don't subscribe to the wider public consciousness weekly.

[paprikapink]

"Homey don't play that." I had a big argument with someone once about that -- I thought it came from the KALX (UCBerkeley's radio station) Sunday morning rap show; my friend said it came from In Living Color (which I'd never seen.) I'm sure he was right, but at the time I couldn't believe him.

"Turn it up to 11." III's using that in his avatar message space thingie. That reference seems to be pretty universal. Do they teach it in ESL classes?

[DWSTXS]

DWSTXS

VERY funny stuff!!

You should probably PUIBLISH your spread sheet! I think it'll sell! Fer real! I am SO not kidding here!

Here's another one (unless you already have it):

I recall reading a few years ago (right after the release of Kill Bill)that young children (ages 10-15) were saying to each other "Don't make me go all Uma on you!" which is a reference to Uma Thurman's displays of emotionally charged (ie "crazy as a loon") violence on the silver screen. The actress was so charmed by the novelty of the expression, and her manager so impressed with the potential for a future audience of teens and young adults, that she signed on to do My Super Ex-Girlfriend. (Sadly, not a good career decision.)


I thought about that the other night when I was playing puff, puff, pass, and then the po-po came and I had to evaporate the scene before 5-0 caught me and threw me in the graybar hotel........besides, if i tried to publish it, I'd have to snail-mail it in...and I just checked my wallet to see if I had any Kraft singles to buy stamps with, and I don't, so I asked a friend and she didn't have any green rectangles either cause she is flat-busted (I don't know what bra size had to do with it though)....so, we decided to get in the car and go to lunch...and it iced over the streets last night...there's car-boogers all over the streets now....she's a new girlfriend, so I had to have a few drinks in me...a safetybuzz, so I'd have enough courage to make a move on her...but also providing me with an excuse if something went wrong and she tried to cock-block me.....

anyway....wait.....I lost my train of thought.......I've had a tune-wedgie stuck in my head for weeks now...and i can't get rid of it.....it's driving me bonkers........it's Neil Diamond's September Morn.......there! Now, maybe, if I'm lucky I've passed it off to you and I can get some winks........

[paprikapink]

Tune wedgie.

That's poetry. Where'd that come from?

[DWSTXS]

Not that she would have done anything with me anyway..........I mean.......I was sorta hoping YOU would take notice of me........but then, you're probably envisioning me...sitting here in my hammer-pants, rocking back and forth because I need to go take a wicked deuce, yet i'm hammering keys in the hopes of impressing someone.........not what you wre looking for anyway right? You women all want a guy that's all hot-nickels and flashtown, and enjoys cuddlingus......and all guys want is a hot-mouth girl.........last girl I dated was a gashole, drive a big stinking SUV......
I got a date tonight......double date...we're all gonna take the Big Lewbowski Challenge....(While watching The Big Lebowski, every time "Dude" is said, by any character, one must take a sip of a White Russian. When The Dude pours or drinks a White Russian, one must FINISH theirs. When The Dude smokes a J, one must smoke a J. Excellent way to spend an evening).........you should join us!

well.......enough for now!

[DWSTXS]

tune wedgie?.....from the great unwashed masses out there..........just put your ear to the ground, man.

[DWSTXS]

DWSTXS

VERY funny stuff!!

You should probably PUIBLISH your spread sheet! I think it'll sell! Fer real! I am SO not kidding here!

Here's another one (unless you already have it):

I recall reading a few years ago (right after the release of Kill Bill)that young children (ages 10-15) were saying to each other "Don't make me go all Uma on you!" which is a reference to Uma Thurman's displays of emotionally charged (ie "crazy as a loon") violence on the silver screen. The actress was so charmed by the novelty of the expression, and her manager so impressed with the potential for a future audience of teens and young adults, that she signed on to do My Super Ex-Girlfriend. (Sadly, not a good career decision.)

I guess this year's version of 'don't make me go all Uma on you'......is: 'Don't Tase Me Bro!'

LOL

[DWSTXS]

BREAK-TIME !

I'm parched, gotta go wet my whistle........gonna have me a Mountain Moo

(A tasty, yet curdling concoction of Mountain Dew and Milk.)

see-ya!

[LIVIN]

From Wikipedia: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kool-Aid)

The idiomatic expression, “drinking the Kool-Aid”, was originally a reference to the Merry Pranksters (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merry_Pranksters), a group of people associated with novelist Ken Kesey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Kesey) who, in the early 1960s, traveled around the United States and held events called “Acid Tests (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_Tests)”, where LSD (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LSD)-laced Kool-Aid was passed out to the public (LSD was legal in the U.S. until 1966 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1966)). Those who drank the “Kool-Aid” passed the “Acid Test”. “Drinking the Kool-Aid” in that context meant accepting the LSD drug culture, and the Pranksters’ “turned on” point of view. These events were described in Tom Wolfe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Wolfe)’s 1968 classic, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Electric_Kool-Aid_Acid_Test).[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kool-Aid#_note-phraseorigin)
It is also now closely associated with the 1978 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978) cult suicide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_suicide) in Jonestown (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown), Guyana (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guyana). Jim Jones (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Jones), the leader of the Peoples Temple (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peoples_Temple), convinced his followers to move to Jonestown. Late in the year, he then ordered his flock to commit suicide by drinking grape-flavored Flavor Aid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flavor_Aid) laced with potassium cyanide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_cyanide). In what is now commonly called the "Jonestown Massacre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown#Mass_murder-and-suicide)," a large majority of the 913 people later found dead drank the brew. (The discrepancy between the idiom (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiom) and the actual occurrence is likely due to Flavor Aid's relative obscurity, compared to the easily recognizable Kool-Aid.) The precise expression can be attested in usage at least as early as 1987[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kool-Aid#_note-phraseorigin). One lasting legacy of the Jonestown tragedy is the saying, "Don't drink the Kool-Aid." This has come to mean, "Don’t trust any group you find to be a little on the kooky side," or "Whatever they tell you, don't believe it too strongly."[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kool-Aid#_note-0) Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly is famous for using the term in this manner. [6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kool-Aid#_note-1)

[DWSTXS]

well.....all i know is that our company wants everyone to 'drink the Kool-aid' (swallow the company agenda, hook line and sinker....) When the CEO gets up to talk, he starts ranting and raviing so much that I sometimes I think I'm gonna have to talk him in off the ledge................on the other hand, it's hard to take someone seriously when they're wearing hammer pants and sporting a mullet......the opposite of a 'metrosexual'...he's what you might call a 'hobosexual'.......that is, someone who could care less what they look like..........

at any rate..........I know I'm fishtailing all over the road with the point I'm trying to make....which is.....Flavor-aid....IS Kool-aid............

Kool-Aid is just the generic name that everybody uses. Sorta like most people say 'aspirin' instead of Bayer....or whatever.....

Ugh.............don't even get me started talking about work.........hell, Tuesday we're having a 'hostage lunch' day....you know, one of those days where the company buys your lunch because of some J.O.S. (jerk-off session) meeting? On the other hand, if they bring in pizza, then everything is Huggy-bear with me. I love pizza. Of course, that's supposing they order the right kind of pizza...I mean, I call Bullshit on anyone who says any pizza needs to have frigging pineapples on it. You know?
Besides, at our company meetings, you can get away with pretty much anything if you just mill about smartly and keep your nose out of everyone else's business. Not like I have people to 'chat' with at work anyway. To me, they're all a bunch of 'frenemies' and losers. All I'm doing there anyway is snarking glimpses of the secretary spread and stacking loot.....and staying as far away from the 'office cancer' (resident brown-noser) as I can get and still have one foot in the building.

Okay. what was I saying? You people keep making me lose my train of thought.,....that, and I just had a sneeze-tease....you know how sometimes you ahh....ahhhhh....ahhhhh...? and you never do choo? That's a sneeze-tease...that's what I'm saying.
So there.

That's all. I'm haze gray and underway.
Out.