Sick as a parrot

Curiously enough, this expression does not mean the same thing as sick as a dog, which is to feel very sick. Sick as a parrot means to be very depressed or disappointed, especially after narrowly losing at sport etc. Since the late 17th century, people have been feeling as melancholy as a parrot and this is mentioned in a play The False Count (1681) by Aphra Behn, “Madam, you are as melancholy as a sick parrot.” These exotic birds can seem very miserable, when taken out of their tropical environment for a life in England, and especially when suffering from psittacosis. The famous Monty Python sketch during the 1960s certainly helped revive the expression, which became popular during the 1970s and 1980s and has remained so since.