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Monday 1 May 2017

Spot the Frippet: something psittacine.

Psittacine (you don't say the p) means to do with, or resembling, a parrot.

(Parrots here includes budgies, cockatoos and macaws etc.)

But what resembles a parrot apart from a parrot?

Disappointed British footballers are often said to be as sick as a parrot, so I suppose they're suffering from psittacine levels of nausea or chagrin.

Parrots are famous for repeating themselves, and there are plenty of people around who exhibit psittacine levels of that.

Parrots are also said to mummify in death, and though I doubt if many of us have access to actual mummies, you might find something similar to one hiding at the back of the vegetable rack.

And is that ear-splitting screech a real parrot, or is it coming from your local playground?

Of course parrots are celebrated, more happily, for their gorgeous colours. Look out for someone in scarlet:

File:Copan birds and wildlife-Scarlet Macaw (6995983203).jpg
scarlet macaw, photo by Murray Foubister

 electric blue:

File:Hyacinth Macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus) (27569556513).jpg
hyacinthine macaw, photo by Bernard DUPONT

lime green:

File:Thick-billed Parrot 2.jpg
thick-billed parrot, photo by Ltshears

or the sunniest yellow:

Neophema chrysogaster male - Melaleuca.jpg
orange-bellied parrot, photo by JJ Harrison (jjharrison89@facebook.com)

And that's not even the only way a person can resemble a parrot:

File:Cool Mohawk - Flickr - Gexon.jpg
photo by Gexon

And that's not to mention noses...

Spot the Frippet: something psittacine. This word comes from the Latin psittacus, parrot.

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