(as) sick as a parrot
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(as) sick as a parrot
Thoroughly displeased, disappointed, or dejected (about something). Primarily heard in UK. Tim was as sick as a parrot when he learned that he had been passed over for the promotion. I'm delighted that my children have such wonderful opportunities abroad, but I must say I feel sick as a parrot at the thought of being separated from them for so long.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
sick as a parrot
BRITISH, INFORMALIf 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.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
sick as a parrot
extremely disappointed. humorousThis expression is a late 20th-century British catchphrase, often associated with disappointed footballers or football managers.
1998 New Scientist Many of my MP colleagues are as sick as the proverbial parrot that Lord Sainsbury has been appointed to succeed John Battle as Britain's science minister.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
(as) sick as a ˈparrot
(British English, humorous) very disappointed: She was as sick as a parrot when she found out that her sister had been nominated for a prize and she hadn’t.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017