Language: en
Meaning: (idiomatic)Athingwhich hasgoodandbadparts, but is overallspoiledby the bad.1902March 1, “Modern Obstetrics, General and Operative.By W[illiam]A[lexander]Newman Dorland, A.M., M.D.; Assistant Demonstrator of Obstetrics, University of Pennsylvania; Assistant Obstetrician to the University Hospital, &c. Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged. With 201 Illustrations. London and Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders and Co. 1901. 8vo. Pp. 797.[book review]”, in John W[illia]m Moore, editor,The Dublin Journal of Medical Science, volume CXIII, number 363 (Third Series), Dublin: Fannin & Company, Ltd.,[…]; London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co.[et al.],→OCLC,page193:We cannot say we are uniformly favourably impressed with such portions of the work as we have read. The work strikes us as being rather unequal. Like thecurate's egg, parts of it are excellent, but parts provide bad material for assimilation.1915August, J. E. Patterson, “Sailormen All”, inThe Bookman, volume XLVIII, number287, London:Hodder and Stoughton[…],→OCLC,page150, column 2:But what does he give us? A mess of pottage—or acurate's egg, if you prefer that—where fine, descriptive passages in good English, and showing a sensitive nature that appreciates beauty, go cheek by jowl with bad grammar, and casual intimacies such as one would look for in the personal story of a Simplicissimus.1936April 6,[Keith Jacka] Holyoake, “Reserve Bank of New Zealand Amendment Bill”, inNew Zealand. Parliamentary Debates. First Session, Twenty-fifth Parliament.[…](House of Representatives), volume244, Wellington: G. H. Loney, government printer,→OCLC,page242, column 1:Like the fabled "curate's egg," it may be good in parts. I agree with the last speaker in regard to the State having control of the appointmentof the directors, but I also endorse his objections to some other powers that are given under the Bill.1992,G[ordon] Pask,G[erard] de Zeeuw, “A Succinct Summary of Novel Theories”, inRobert Trappl, editor,Cybernetics and Systems Research ’92: Proceedings of the Eleventh European Meeting on Cybernetics and Systems Research, Organized by the Austrian Society for Cybernetic Studies, Held at the University of Vienna, Austria, 21–24 April 1992, volume 1, Singapore:World Scientific Publishing,→ISBN, section 6 (Essential Kinesis),page670:The neat and tidy temporal ordering is, like thecurate's egg, good in parts, but only in some parts. Neither of us vaunts much competence in the egg world, but it must have been rotten, thecurate's egg.1994, David J. Lee, “Preface”, inBridge Bearings and Expansion Joints, 2nd edition, Abingdon, Oxfordshire; New York, N.Y.:Taylor & Francis, published2009,→ISBN, column 2:[W]orks of art are not likecurates' eggs, only good in parts. Nothing inspires the engineer or layman alike more than a daring bridge design, but what makes a really good bridge is how the structure manages to integrate all the demanding and conflicting requirements over a period of time and still give artistic satisfaction.2003, Chris Hackley, “‘Writing Up’ the Research Project”, inDoing Research Projects in Marketing, Management and Consumer Research, London; New York, N.Y.:Routledge, published2004,→ISBN,page64:The comparison of models and theories needs to be qualitative and specific. Theories, likecurates' eggs, can be good in parts.
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