Curiosity
parrot swears in welsh accent
Basil the African Grey Parrot from Bristol. Basil has been known to speak in a Welsh accent and also has a vocabulary of swearwords. See SWNS story SWPARROT: A family were amazed when their newly adopted parrot started swearing at them – in a Welsh accent. Potty-mouthed Basil the African Grey had only been in his new home a matter of hours when he launched his first verbal attacks on the Fisk family. He revealed his voice with a polite “hello” to mum Sarah Fisk, 34, but when she replied he promptly told her to “fuck off” – with an accent straight from his previous home in Wales. He then started shouting “I’m in the Valleys” and released a tirade of expletives including “bastard” and “arsehole”.
When the Fisk family purchased their African Grey Parrot they were informed that the bird had picked up a couple of swear words in its vocabulary. It turns out that the seller had “gilded the lily” on that description.
Upon arriving to his new house, the bird known as “Basil”, responded to a greeting by Mrs. Fisk by directing her to back off. Well, the word he used in place of “back” actually rhymed with the word “duck”. What was all the more interesting is that Basil’s use of profanity has a clear and distinctive Welsh accent.
Basil then went on to chatter away as these birds are accustomed to doing. Only in his case, his use of profanity can best be described as a tirade of bad words as would be expected to come from a drunken sailor or someone with Tourette’s syndrome.
Sarah, 34, a day centre worker for adults with learning difficulties, said: “It was quite shocking the first time he did it – I didn’t quite believe my ears.
“He settled in so quickly and was obviously making himself at home.
“His accent is so strong sometimes that we aren’t sure what he is saying, but it definitely sounds Welsh. And when he says the swear words, that is in a distinctive Welsh accent.
“His previous owners had said he had sworn in the past, but I thought that a change of scenery would leave that behind – not a chance.”
Mrs. Fisk thought that a change in environment would give Basil pause regarding the use of profanity, but she now admits that hasn’t worked at all.
He recently escaped from his cage and was turned in at a local pet clinic. Workers there explained how Basil called them “tossers” and other choice words they didn’t feel should be repeated.
Veterinary manager Mandy Stone said: “He kept calling the nurses tossers and there were a few other phrases he used that I won’t repeat. It was quite shocking.
“He was very quiet and shy for the first day, but then all of a sudden he started talking and rather surprised us with his adult vocabulary.
“He also whistled the McDonalds tune and he danced for us when we asked him to, so we forgave his bad manners.”
Source material:
Basil The African Grey Parrot Swears In Welsh Accent
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/09/26/parrot-swear-welsh_n_3994164.html?just_reloaded=1