Grain of salt From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(With) a grain of salt is a literal translation of a Latin phrase, (cum) grano salis. A pinch of salt may also be used.
In common parlance, if something is to be taken with a grain of salt, it means that a measure of healthy skepticism should be applied regarding a claim; that it should not be blindly accepted and believed without any doubt or reservation. According to the Oxford English Dictionary 'to take 'it' with a grain of salt' means 'to accept a thing less than fully'. It dates this usage back to 1647.
The phrase comes from Pliny the Elder's Naturalis Historia, regarding the discovery of a recipe for an antidote to a poison. In the antidote, one of the ingredients was a grain of salt. Threats involving the poison were thus to be taken "with a grain of salt" and therefore less seriously. In reality, salt is not an antidote to any poison.
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oh yes, you must always satisfy the monkey. Strong and Beautiful smells like a monkey
Buttercup wrote: You're very welcome. I was lazy, I looked it up on Wikipedia instead of in my reference book. I could have looked it up too. It just sounds so much better coming from you
+1 for Bcups
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