driving is something to behold

[Archie]

Driving through the city in order to get to wherever you are going to stay is not always the most fun part... the driving is... er...something to behold but I love the area north of the Circus Maximus.
I don't quite get this.

[twostep]

Originally Posted by ARCHIE

Driving through the city in order to get to wherever you are going to stay is not always the most fun part... the driving is... er...something to behold but I love the area north of the Circus Maximus.
I don't quite get this.

Driving through Rome is somewhat of an experience - combat training or plain insanity comes to mind - it is so to say something to write home about. Not an everyday experience but worth the trouble because of the Circus Maximus.

[Archie]

Thanks twostep for the answer.

Can I also say "driving is necessity evil?"

[twostep]

Originally Posted by ARCHIE

Thanks twostep for the answer.

Can I also say "driving is necessity evil?"

Driving is a necessary evil - it is something that cannot be avoided. I would not use it in the example's context. After all - you can use public transportation or walk.

[MrPedantic]

Interesting. Without more context, I would take

1. ...the driving is something to behold...

to mean "other people's driving is amazingly strange/erratic".

MrP

[Archie]

Thank you very much Twostep

[Archie]

If i see a disruptive client messing around so can I say for example
" his behaviour is something to behold"?

[MrPedantic]

Hello Archie

It seems to me that the phrase "something to behold" is based on the cliché "a wonder to behold", and retains some of its sense of "astonishment", "amazement", "I-can-hardly-believe-it-ness".

In other words, the base meaning is strongly positive and relates to a) astonishment b) the visual aspects of the thing described: though it can be (and very often is) used ironically, as in your original context.

Therefore you might ironically describe a friend's newly decorated living room as "something to behold", because "newly decorated" implies a visual element.

But applying it to "disruptive behaviour" doesn't sound quite right, to me, in the context you give.

MrP

[Archie]

Ok that makes more sense to me now
Can you give me a few more examples of ironical usage of "something to behold" because I think I might use it wrong in that way.

[Tdol]

Abramoff, the lobbyist in the US who has pealded guilty to conspiriacy to bribe, corruption, etc, had ethics that were something to behold. (or a sight for sore eyes)