Basic Trope: Parrots (and other birds that are able to imitate speech) are shown to be able to speak and understand sentences, rather than simply repeating them.
- Straight: Pete the Parrot is often shown to be able to understand speech and use it on his own accord.
- Exaggerated:
- Nothing Pete ever says was taught to him.
- All parrots/speaking birds are portrayed in this way.
- Downplayed: Sometimes Pete says things on his own accord, but it's rare.
- Pete matches a few words and phrases with associated meanings such as always saying "cracker" when he sees one and "bed time" when his cage is covered.
- Justified:
- Pete is a Funny Animal, Talking Animal, or Uplifted Animal of some sort, and therefore has humanlike intelligence and can speak.
- Pete is really a human shape-shifter who got trapped in the form of a parrot somewhere down the line.
- Inverted:
- Pete is incapable of mimicking speech, even if he doesn't understand what it means.
- Pete's owner can mimic bird song.
- Subverted: Pete says something unusual, but his owner claims that he taught Pete to say that.
- Double Subverted: Pete then says, "No you didn't."
- Parodied: Pete can not only speak, he also has a job, a house, and a car. He is basically a humanized parrot.
- ZigZagged: How often Pete seems to know what he's saying Depends on the Writer.
- Averted:
- There are no parrots/speaking birds.
- Pete merely repeats things he has heard like a real parrot would.
- Enforced: The writer already knows that parrots just imitate speech, but it's for factors such as Rule of Funny, Rule of Cool, and/or Rule of Cute.
- Invoked: A Mad Scientist genetically modifies a parrot that can speak.
- Exploited: Pete realizes he's the only parrot that can actually speak. As a result, he decides to be a stand-up comedian, narrator, or a similar job as people will likely pay extra to hear a parrot doing it.
- Defied: Pete knows he is capable of human speech, but he hides his ability from his owner.
- Lampshaded: "Pete knows a lot for a parrot!"
- Discussed: "You mean you never taught him any of those phrases?"
- Conversed: "I wonder why parrots are often portrayed as knowing what they're saying, rather than just repeating words and phrases."
- Implied: Pete's owner mentions having a conversation with Pete.
- Deconstructed: Pete's owner gets tired of his attitude, so he puts him up for adoption.
- Reconstructed: Pete's owner regrets his decision and decides to buy Pete back.
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