What is a popinjay? Literally a parrot, this term is often used in a military context to refer to a vain or conceited officer with a Napoleon complex. And a bandbox boy? That once commonly referred to an officer who gave excessive attention to his...
A man who owns a parrot says that when people see his bird, they invariably ask the question “Polly wanna cracker?” He wonders about the origin of that psittacine phrase, meaning parrot-like. One of the earliest uses of the phrase so far...
tapirage n.— «Macaws and other parrots supplied most of the plumage, but that of other species—Muscovy ducks, flamingos, egrets and the petite paradise tanager—was also prized. Some colors were produced artificially in a process known as...
