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curate's egg

   Also found in: Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
cu·rate's egg  (kyrts)
n. Chiefly British
Something with both good and bad qualities.
[From a story in Punch about a curate who, having been served a bad egg by his bishop, said that parts of it were excellent.]
curate's egg
n
something that has both good and bad parts
[derived from a cartoon in Punch (November, 1895) in which a timid curate, who has been served a bad egg while breakfasting with his bishop, says that parts of the egg are excellent]


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Held in the International Congress Centre (a hulking late 1970s megastructure which is in danger of becoming fashionable again -- AR June 1980), the UIA is a massive curate's egg with its Byzantine programme of forums, plenums, talks, resolutions, lectures, exhibitions and general architectural carryings on.
View by Slessor, Catherine / The Architectural Review
Like the curate's egg, parts of this are very good: Witness the fine alliteration at the top of the second sentence, the excellent assonance in wheeled and steely.
McGillivray Balances, Aligns Wheels; Braun and Bogren Mend Zazu's ... by Wood, Alden / Communication World
Overall, this is a curate's egg of a collection of essays.
The Atlantic Slave Trade: Effects on Economies, Societies, and ... by Richardson, David / Journal of Social History
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