curate

curate's egg

Something that is partly good and partly bad. Taken from a British cartoon about a curate, or priest, who was given a bad egg but focused on the egg's good characteristics as he did not want to offend the person who gave it to him. Primarily heard in UK. Our vacation was a bit of a curate's egg; the first few days were sunny, but the rest of the week was ruined by the heavy rain and flooding.
See also: egg
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

a curate's egg

BRITISH
If you describe something as a curate's egg, you think that parts of it are good and parts of it are bad. His collection of duets with famous friends is something of a curate's egg. It's a real curate's egg of a production; intermittently brilliant in the first half, but a dreadful disappointment in the second. Note: A curate is a clergyman in the Church of England who helps the vicar or rector of a parish. A well-known Victorian cartoon published in the British magazine `Punch' shows a curate having breakfast with a senior clergyman. The curate has been given a bad egg but he is anxious not to offend anyone, so he says that it is `good in parts'.
See also: egg
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

a curate's egg

something that is partly good and partly bad.
This expression stems from a Punch cartoon produced in 1895 , showing a meek curate breakfasting with his bishop. bishop: I'm afraid you've got a bad egg, Mr Jones . curate: Oh no, my Lord, I assure you! Parts of it are excellent!
See also: egg
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

the/a ˌcurate’s ˈegg

(British English) something that has some good things and some bad things about it: ‘Is it an interesting book?’ ‘It’s a bit of a curate’s egg, good in parts. The dialogue’s often quite amusing.’This idiom comes from a story in the magazine Punch. A polite curate (= an assistant to a priest) is given a bad egg while eating in the house of a very senior priest. When asked if he likes the egg, he replies that ‘parts of it are excellent’.
See also: egg
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • a curate's egg
  • curate's egg
  • separate the sheep from the goats
  • separate the sheep from the goats, to
  • sort out/separate the sheep from the goats
  • it never rains but it pours
  • term
  • have a bad opinion of (someone or something)
  • have a good, bad, high, low, etc. opinion of somebody/something
  • a bad egg
References in periodicals archive
In addition to the six flavors in the current line-up, Curate will introduce Curate Kids bars this spring, with other new snacks coming later this year.
Abbott launches Curate snack food brand: bars designed as a wholesome, nutritious snack with a culinary flair
He will serve as Curate at St James and St Basil, Fenham,
Newcastle ordinations: Drummer, doctor and pharmacist to receive honour; The wide range of backgrounds for the eight deadons show calling to people of 'all ages and backgrounds', says the Bishop of Newcastle
Children from Linthwaite Clough School present |their artwork to Vicar of Huddersfield Canon Simon Moor and assistant curate Simon Crook at Huddersfield Parish Church 010415GCHURCH_01 JULIAN HUGHES
Pupils'paintings celebrate light from darkness
Phelim, who has been assistant curate (NSM) in the parish for the past two years as well as chaplain at the Cathedral School in Llandaff, takes over as team vicar from Reverend Martin Colton, who has moved to Surrey.
Curate is set to take on team vicar role
The Rev Andrea Dart, 67, will be curate of Christ the King Team Ministry, Bowburn.
The biggest move of their lives; This weekend, 20 people are being ordained as priests and deacons in the Diocese of Durham at ceremonies to be staged at Durham Cathedral. LINDA CAMERON takes a look at their diverse backgrounds
The verb "curate," as it happens, is a candidate for the list.
Curating gets grating: forced retirement?
What soon became clear was that Curate wanted to do it their way and they were very, very ambitious.
Pushing the classical boundaries; A new late night event from Sinfonia Cymru will see young musicians revolutionising the classical landscape and opening it up to new audiences. Here the chamber orchestra's general manager, Sophie Lewis, sheds light on the innovative venture
Bloggers curate content on the web, stringing together a narrative through the juxtaposition and combination of found imagery, providing new context to disparate sources.
The culture of curating and the curating of culture(s)
In addition, users can add the current song playing on the curate radio station to their own playlists; another first for the music streaming industry.
Dhingana Announces Radio Experience With First-of-Its-Kind RJ Curated Radio Stations
Baltic community programmer Ilaria Longhi, said the Create and Curate day had been an opportunity to give children more understanding of how exhibitions are put together.
Families are at the art of a new exhibition; Youngsters learn how to create and curate
She has teamed up with Italian drinks label Disaronno to curate a series of classic BAFTA-winning films to be shown in September and October.
showbuzz Witness actress one
But to curate examples of efforts consistent with the theme, the company has adopted a simple Tumblr blog.
A matter of substance: the problem isn't information overload--it's filter failure. content curation is the answer
They will explore the changing traditions of woven, embroidered, printed and dyed clothing and textiles from Africa and curate an exhibition using materials from the museum's collection.
African style show's boost
Since September 2010, Ekstein Development, has donated the building's commercial space to non-profit organizations to curate a rotating series of art exhibits.
The developers of +aRt, the new condo in West Chelsea, announced the opening of a fifth art exhibition in their commercial space
A PUNK-loving curate hopes to spread the Christian faith - dressed in biker boots, skinny jeans, nose stud and dog collar.
Punk rocker's faith with a dog collar