curate's egg

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

cu′rate's egg′, [Brit.]

1. British Terms something discreetly declared to be partly good but in fact thoroughly bad.

• after a cartoon by German. du Maurier in the English humor weekly Punch (Nov. 9, 1895): a meek curate, when served a bad egg at the bishop's table, replies that "parts of it are excellent''

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

curate's egg noun

1. something that has both good and bad parts

Etymology: 20th Century: derived from a cartoon in Punch (November, 1895) in which a timid curate, who has been served a bad egg while breakfasting with his bishop, says that parts of the egg are excellent