The British gambit had appeared to be a military blunder, but it was a calculated move to abduct the rani, luring the rajah and his armored cavalry into a trap behind a barrier of dragon’s teeth where he pondered what to do next while his men decanted the last of the new rainwater caught in large jugs requisitioned from local housewives into their canteens -- a curate’s egg because water was now close at hand, but the recent storm had left the fields boggy and difficult to traverse for both man and machine, resulting in a slow response time.

(by wordgirl)

"It was like pulling--er, sowing--dragon's teeth, Your Highness," Lord Malaprop remarked, describing a diplomatic peace mission with hostile natives as he decanted a martini for the rani, "a scrambled yegg, ah egg that is, you might say, or curate's --that's it, a curate's egg-- because in the bend, er end, we did succeed in mortifying, ah mollifying the natives while losing only half our party in the fry that followed, ah fray, that is, yes, the fray that followed, Your Highness." (by mtc)