There was a wonderful illustration of it in an old Punch volume (may have been the first appearance, perhaps not), with an extremely imposing-looking Bishop asking the mousy little curate how his egg was. It was apparent from the faces of the curate's neighbours that the egg was stinking, to say the least, but rather than admit to a superior that the egg was actually bad, the poor lad confines himself to saying that it's "good in parts".
I suspect that the phrase maybe carries more of a "it's bad but I'm not going to say so" flavour than "good in parts" would initially seem to imply.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2003-03-11 05:28 am (UTC)I suspect that the phrase maybe carries more of a "it's bad but I'm not going to say so" flavour than "good in parts" would initially seem to imply.
I hope things get better for you.