A few days ago a Brit posted "curate's egg" in another forum, and it occurred to me that we in the US never use the expression. Has it ever been popular here? Is it still common in the rest of the English-speaking world?
BTW, it's one of the few expressions whose precise origin is known. What others can you think of?
I wouldn't say it's in regular use, but I've seen it in use every now and then, and like Bob have used it myself. Since it comes from a cartoon in that very British periodical, Punch, I'd be surprised if it were readily understood anywhere overseas, let alone in the USA.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
I suspect Ashleigh Brilliant was parodying it with his "I may not be totally perfect, but parts of me are excellent." Does anyone remember that crazy icon of the hippie era?
Since it comes from a cartoon in that very British periodical, Punch, I'd be surprised if it were readily understood anywhere overseas, let alone in the USA
we in the US never use the expression. Has it ever been popular here? Is it still common in the rest of the English-speaking world?
I mean that it's unlikely to be heard in the English-speaking world other than the UK, such as Australia, NZ, India, South Africa and so on. Those other countries were (at the time of the Punch cartoon) run by the British.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Yet I had heard the term before seeing it in the aforementioned post. I checked the Wikipedia article on Punch and found that it was well known in India, and even influenced a Japanese publication, which lends credence to my assertion that non-UK English speakers might well have encountered "curate's egg" as well as other stuff from it.
As for my second question, "Houston, we have a problem" is a phrase whose precise date and location of origin is known. What others are there?
which lends credence to my assertion that non-UK English speakers might well have encountered "curate's egg" as well as other stuff from it.
I suppose that a lot of the British rulers of the Raj subscribed to Punch and so the curate's egg joke was known there. The same might be true of many ex-pats living in the other English-speaking countries. I am rather surprised about Japan, though; they don't even have curates or bishops.
There must be thousands of similar phrases whose origin we know; especially ones originating relatively recently. "I have a dream" is the first to come to mind.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
