the parrot
Ret's ESL Jokes
A man acquired a parrot that could already speak, having once belonged to a sailor with a vast vocabulary. However, the man soon realised that the parrot mostly knew vulgar words. At first, he found it funny, but it quickly became tiresome. When he had guests over, the bird’s crude language embarrassed him greatly.
As soon as the guests left, the man angrily shouted at the parrot, “That language must stop!” But the bird responded with curses. He shook the bird and yelled again, “Don’t use those ugly words!” Yet, the parrot cursed him again.
Now furious, the man grabbed the parrot and threw it into the refrigerator. But the bird kept swearing from inside. He opened the door, took it out, but the parrot still used dirty words and curses. Finally, he opened the freezer, tossed the bird in, and shut the door.
Silence followed. After two minutes, the man opened the door and took out the very cold parrot. Slowly, the shivering parrot walked up the man’s arm, sat on his shoulder, and whispered into his ear, sounding terrified: “ I promise, I’ll be good… Those chickens in there… what did they say?”
Vocabulary
Parrot: a colourful bird known for mimicking speech.
Sailor: a person who works on a ship.
Curses: offensive words or expressions used to insult.
Freezer: a compartment for keeping things frozen.The parrot repeated everything he said.
The sailor taught the bird many words.
His curses shocked everyone at the party.
He put the ice cream in the freezer.
Grammar Focus
Direct speech captures exact words spoken, enclosed in quotation marks. Past simple tense describes completed actions in the past.
Direct speech: “I’ll be good,” the parrot whispered.
Past simple: He shook the parrot and shouted angrily.
Synonyms & Alternatives
Parrot: bird, macaw
Curses: swear words, profanities
Freezer: icebox, deep freeze
Mini Dialogue
Thato (at a bar): My new parrot keeps swearing at everyone!
Ntsebe: That’s funny! Where did you get it?
Thato: From a sailor who taught it all those curses.
Ntsebe: Maybe stick it in the freezer to cool its language!
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