Curate's egg

Right Reverend Host: "I'm afraid you've got a bad Egg, Mr Jones!"; The Curate: "Oh no, my Lord, I assure you! Parts of it are excellent!"
True Humility by George du Maurier, originally published in Punch, 9 November 1895.

A "curate's egg" is something described as partly bad and partly good. In its original usage, it referred to something that is obviously and entirely bad, but is described out of politeness as nonetheless having good features that redeem it.[1][2] This meaning has been largely supplanted by its less ironic modern usage, which refers to something that is in fact an indeterminate mix of good and bad,[3][4] possibly with a preponderance of bad qualities.[5]

  1. ^ Paraphrase of definition in Collins Dictionary of the English Language, London, 1986, p.381
  2. ^ Style guide. Economist Books (9th ed.). London: Profile Books. 2005. p. 59. ISBN 978-1-84765-030-6. OCLC 236346040. [G]ood in parts is what the curate said about an egg that was wholly bad. He was trying to be polite.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. ^ Oxford Dictionaries definition
  4. ^ The Phrase Finder: Curate's egg
  5. ^ "curate's egg Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary". dictionary.cambridge.org. Retrieved 2018-08-26.