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curate

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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

a curate's egg

  (British)

something which has both good and bad parts

Usage notes: A curate is a priest. There is a joke about a curate who was given a bad egg and said that parts of the egg were good because he did not want to offend the person who gave it to him.

Queen's College is something of a curate's egg, with elegant Victorian buildings alongside some of the ugliest modern architecture.

See also: egg