Basic Trope: A parrot (or other speaking animal) imitates swearing.
- Straight: Paul the parrot overhears his owner swearing, and starts repeating the swear word.
- Exaggerated:
- Paul learns multiple swear words and begins repeating them constantly.
- Paul not only repeats the swear word, but even knows the proper contexts to use it in!
- Downplayed: The word Paul learns is just a rude word, such as "idiot".
- Justified: It is possible for parrots to learn swear words and repeat them in Real Life.
- Inverted: A parrot teaches someone else a swear word.
- Subverted: Paul sounds like he's repeating a swear word, but it turns out that he was actually just mispronouncing something.
- Double Subverted: Paul starts swearing for real after that.
- Parodied: Paul is a young Funny Animal parrot who repeats swearing after hearing it from somewhere.
- Zig-Zagged: Sometimes Paul repeats swear words, but sometimes he doesn't.
- Averted:
- Parrots don't repeat swearing.
- There aren't any parrots/speaking animals in the work.
- Enforced:
- Rule of Funny
- Can also serve as An Aesop on why not to swear around parrots.
- Lampshaded: "Paul sure has a fowl mouth!"
- Invoked: Paul's owner (or a friend of Paul's owner) teaches him how to repeat swear words.
- Exploited: Paul's owner is a stand-up comedian and who trains and uses him for his act.
- Defied: Paul's owner always makes sure the parrot is out of earshot before he swears, and never leaves the parrot alone with guests for this reason.
- Discussed: "Your parrot swears? Uh oh."
- Conversed: "I tend to notice that parrots and kids are typically the ones to repeat naughty words on these kinds of shows."
- Deconstructed: Paul ends up outliving his owner, and has difficulty finding a new one due to his swearing habits.
- Reconstructed: Paul gets adopted by someone who doesn't mind swearing, or is at least good at training him not to swear anymore.
- Implied: Paul's speaking is often followed by a Sound-Effect Bleep and the shocked expressions of bystanders.
- Played for Laughs: Paul's owner tries to teach him to repeat the phrase "I'm a pretty bird", only to get surprised when the parrot responds "Eat shit!" instead.
- Played for Drama: Paul's owner invites some guests over, only for Paul to begin saying swear words, causing the guests to feel offended.
- Played for Horror:
- Paul lives in a household with Domestic Abuse.
- Paul was present at a heated argument turned murder.
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