where does the expression "sick as a parrot" come from?

Question

I have kept many birds - mainly cockateils. None of them were ever sick, they just died of old age.
Are parrots reputedly sick birds?

What about p****d as a newt? Did you ever see a drunken newt?

Answer 1

actually both phrases come from the same place.
back in the 1700s a small flock of parrots that were being imported escaped from their ship an hid out in the Dover countryside,
now it so happened that as they were hunting for food they happened upon a newt colony which fled to a nearby building for safety. the building happened to be a little country pub and whilst the newts were hiding out in the cellar they decided to have a drink or two to pass the time.
well newts being newts it wasn't long before they had polished off the whole of the first barrel of beer and moved on to the second
eventually they managed to work through the entire contents of the cellar. and being so incredibly drunk they left the pub in the same manner as all drunken fools, with much singing and bawdy behaviour.
this however brought the attention of the parrots who had been waiting outside. and so they swept down and devoured the lot of them
now parrots being tropical birds were unfamiliar with alcoholic newts and so were immediately intoxicated and staggered around the village for hours afterwards creating pavement pizzas much to the disgust of the locals who coined the phrases; sick as a parrot and pissed as a newt
both originally referring to someone who couldn't hold their beer.

hope that satisfies your curiosity.

Answer 2

Died of old age?? How old were they? My oldest is currently 19 and going strong.

I agree that if a bird is sick, they hide it. Birds are flock creatures and will drive out sick, injured, or weak birds and being a bird alone is not a good thing. Therefore they hide it.

Parrots can get sick, but most of the causes are bacterial infections. I have only had one parrot that got sick enough to need medicine.

When coming across these sayings, you should google them to see what you can find. Sometimes they are misheard or misunderstood and get handed down wrong, so you may never find the answer.

Answer 3

I have seen abused parrots but I have never seen a sick parrot that didn't have a good reason for being sick or dead. I have owned three parrots and affiliated with breeders. I have never had a sick parrot and never saw one. I guess there is, but as long as you take child like care of them you pretty much can't go wrong. Charlie, my Senegal, travels weekly with me. Healthy as a Parrot he is. Course he's always having a good time. No drafts, chocolate, avocados, caffeine, alcohol. and he's in the dark at dark. Hope that wasn't too much information.

Answer 4

Well, usually birds do not like to show that are sick because, in their natural habitat sickness, would be a sign of weakness, which would bring more predators. So, if they do show that are sick, they must be very sick, because they usually don't show that, so if your as sick as a parrot, you must be very sick.About other two questions, I've never heard that last expression, and I don't have a parrot, I have a parakeet.

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
where does the expression "sick as a parrot" come from?
I have kept many birds - mainly cockateils. None of them were ever sick, they just died of old age.
Are parrots reputedly sick birds?

What about p****d as a newt? Did you ever see a drunken newt?

Answer 6

I've heard sick as a dog but never sick as a parrot. I have no idea what that means.

Answer 7

Monty Python for the parrot???


Not sure about the newt tho!

Answer 8

i've never heard this expression, but i would assume since usually once a bird becomes sick enough to notice that they are pretty much dead. plus some types of parrots can live up to 75 plus years.

Answer 9

a parrot

Answer 10

Parrots are carriers for tb google it