(See also MIXTURE.)

curate’s egg Any amalgam of good and bad features; any combination of assets and liabilities, strengths and weaknesses, pros and cons, etc. This British term dates from an 1895 Punch cartoon in which a deferential, diplomatic curate, unwilling to acknowledge before his bishop that he had been served a bad egg, insisted that “Parts of it are excellent!” The expression curate’s egg came into vogue almost immediately, and still enjoys considerable popularity.

melting pot A place where the assimilation of racial groups and ethnic cultures occurs; the amalgamation of qualities or concepts, resulting in an improved or unprecedented end-product. This expression alludes to a large cauldron where dissimilar ingredients are blended to form a distinctive mixture. In the United States, the phrase often refers to the ongoing assimilation of vastly different immigrants into the mainstream of American society. Nonetheless, melting pot often carries its meaning of a medley of heterogeneous elements combined into a single work or idea; this concept is illustrated in the American Guide Series: Connecticut, as cited by Webster’s Third:

portmanteau word See LANGUAGE.