parrot fashion
Without real understanding
Parrot fashion describes repeating something mechanically, without understanding—the way a parrot mimics human speech.
The phrase typically criticizes rote learning: Students recited the poem parrot fashion without grasping its meaning.
British usage favors this form; Americans more often say "like a parrot."
- memorizationCommitting information to recall
- rote learningMemorization through repetition
- recitationOral delivery from memory
- regurgitationEjecting swallowed material
- recallMemory retrieval act
monkey see monkey do · mnemonic devices · copycat · by heart · mimicry · repeat after me · word for word · auditory memory · verbatim · learn by rote · flashcards · school drill · drill exercises · echolalia · instinctive behavior · animal communication · standardized testing · copy and paste
parrot fashionthoughtfully
With careful consideration
intelligently · meaningfully · analytically · critically · reflectively
parrot fashionoriginally
From the start
creatively · independently · authentically · inventively · spontaneously
parrot, fashion, parrots, parroted, parroting, fashions, fashioned, fashioning, fashionable