curate's egg
Preserved but no longer current.
Among the catch-phrases that Punch has introduced into the English language, "Good in parts, like the curate's egg" is, perhaps, the most commonly used. The illustrated joke showed a nervous young curate, at his bishop's breakfast table. He has been asked by his lordship whether his egg is to his liking; terrified to say that it is bad, he stammers out that " it's good in parts.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “curate's egg” mean?
Among the catch-phrases that Punch has introduced into the English language, "Good in parts, like the curate's egg" is, perhaps, the most commonly used. The illustrated joke showed a nervous young curate, at his bishop's breakfast table. He has been asked by his lordship whether his egg is to his liking; terrified to say that it is bad, he stammers out that " it's good in parts.
Is “curate's egg” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.