Idiom
good egg
Meaning
A good person, someone to be trusted; a friend.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“You can trust him because he is a good egg.”
“My coworker is a good egg who always helps new staff.”
“I was worried about the move, but my new neighbor helped me carry all the boxes; he is a real good egg.”
“When I lost my wallet at the station, a good egg found it and contacted me immediately to return everything.”
“You should ask your cousin for advice because she is a good egg and will tell you the truth.”
“Despite the difficult circumstances, he remained a good egg, consistently offering support and kindness to everyone who crossed his path.”
Examples
simple
“You can trust him because he is a good egg.”
“My coworker is a good egg who always helps new staff.”
contextual
“I was worried about the move, but my new neighbor helped me carry all the boxes; he is a real good egg.”
“When I lost my wallet at the station, a good egg found it and contacted me immediately to return everything.”
“You should ask your cousin for advice because she is a good egg and will tell you the truth.”
complex
“Despite the difficult circumstances, he remained a good egg, consistently offering support and kindness to everyone who crossed his path.”
Origin
Probably a humorous antonym of bad egg, used to denote a person of dependable character as a contrast to a rogue or one whose behaviour is reprehensible. The term follows the logic of the schoolyard, where a social standing is determined by the perceived freshness of the specimen. No specific date or individual is credited with the coinage, though it survives as a counterpart to the earlier, less favourable label.
Key words
Related idioms
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