If a child learns something parrot fashion, they learn it by repeating it many times, but they do not really understand what it means. Under the old system pupils often had to repeat lessons parrot fashion. There are no books, pens or chairs here, just a blackboard and a dirt floor where 150 dusty children sit in rows, learning their words parrot fashion. Note: Some parrots are able to imitate human speech, and repeat words and phrases, although they do not really understand what they are saying.

If you are as sick as a parrot, you are very annoyed or disappointed about something. Sportsnight presenter Des Lynam will be as sick as a parrot if his new TV show fails to score with viewers. Note: The origin of this expression is uncertain. References to people being `as melancholy as a sick parrot' have been found as early as the 17th century. In the 1970s in West Africa, there was an outbreak of the disease of psittacosis or parrot fever, which humans can catch from birds. At about this time, footballers and football managers started using this expression to say how they felt when they had lost a match.