Curate's egg

Posted by ESC on August 14, 2003

In Reply to: Good in parts posted by eric henderson on August 14, 2003

: If my memory serves me well, the phrase originated in a Punch cartoon in the late 1800's or early 1900's
: I seem to recall the image of a very sumissive Cleric being stared down by the Bishop!Regards

CURATE'S EGG - "Something which is part good, part bad; a mixed bag. The expression comes from a 19th-century cartoon in the British humor magazine 'Punch': A nervous young curate (in Britain, a junior-grade clergyman who is usually an assistant to a more senior member of the clergy) is served a bad egg while a guest at his bishop's breakfast table. Asked whether the egg is to his liking, he stammers: 'Parts of it are excellent!" From "Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Allusions" by Elizabeth Webber and Mike Feinsilber (Merriam-Webster, Springfield, Mass., 1999).

• How many other cartoon phrase origins? Bob 14/August/03
  • Keeping up with the Jones. ESC 14/August/03
    • Keeping up with the Jones. GPP 14/August/03
    • Teen ESC 14/August/03