curate's egg Hear it!

curate's egg definition

curate's egg

Brit. something that has both good and bad characteristics or parts

Etymology: based on a joke in an 1895 issue of the English magazine Punch: when served a stale egg at his bishop's home, a timid curate says that parts of it are excellent

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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