parrot cry en · NOUN
Etymology
From the tendency of parrots to repeat words they have heard.
Meanings
-
A shout which is mindlessly or mechanically repeated.
Michael Portillo as shadow chancellor will immediately leap up with the parrot-cry: "Labour always increases taxes and often invents new ones".
2001 August 6, Roy Hattersley, The Guardian:Parrot cries for silence on delicate political issues sounded increasingly archaic – and were quite unable to stem the rising tide of parlementary critique.
2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 265:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| parrot cries | Number=Plur | lexicographic |