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. 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, possibly with a preponderance of bad qualities.

History

The expression is pre-dated by an anecdote in the 1875 ''Our Bishops and Deans'' by

the Reverend The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...

F. Arnold, referenced in an issue of ''The Academy: A Weekly Review of Literature, Science, and Art:'' "Without pledging our credence, we could afford a grin to the story of the 'young Levite' who at a bishop's breakfast-table, was so as to decline the replacement of a bad egg by a good one with a 'No thank you, my Lord, it's good enough for me'." In May 1895, the satirical British magazine '' Judy'' published a cartoon by artist Wilkerson, showing a timid

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

and a fierce-looking

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

at breakfast in the bishop's house. The bishop says, "Dear me, I'm afraid your egg's not good!" The curate, desperate not to offend his host and superior, replies, "Oh, yes, my Lord, really – er – some parts of it are good." In November that year, the magazine '' Punch'' (which had a much wider circulation than ''Judy'') published a similar cartoon by staff illustrator

George du Maurier George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier (6 March 1834 – 8 October 1896) was a Franco-British cartoonist and writer known for work in ''Punch (magazine), Punch'' and a Gothic fiction, Gothic novel ''Trilby (novel), Trilby'', featuring the char ...

. Titled ''True Humility'', it also pictures a timid-looking curate eating breakfast with his bishop, though in this case with others at the table and servants shown in the background. The bishop says: "I'm afraid you've got a bad egg, Mr Jones." The curate replies: "Oh no, my Lord, I assure you! Parts of it are excellent!" An editor at ''Judy'' accused ''Punch'' of plagiarism, saying in an editorial, "anyone can see the coincidence for themselves". This version of the gag has become the best known. For the final issue of ''Punch'', published in 1992, an artist, Tony Hannan, redrew the du Maurier cartoon, with the curate simply saying, "This f***ing egg's bad!" ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'' Style Guide of 2018 cites the curate's egg in its entry for the connotations of 'good in parts'. It states: "good in parts is what the curate said about an egg that was wholly bad. He was trying to be polite."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curate's Egg 1895 works 1890s neologisms Individual printed cartoons British English idioms Eggs in culture