a curate's 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

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Dominikdaw-MEE-neek (Polish), DO-mi-nik (German)Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Polish, German, Hungarian, Croatian
Marciana-Ancient Roman, Portuguese (Brazilian)
Angelica[.æn'dʒelikə]
Myghal-Cornish
Ness (1)NESIrish Mythology
EasterEES-tərEnglish