Grain of salt - wikipedia Grain of salt Pliny the Elder 's Naturalis Historia may be the origin of the phrase. `` ( With ) a grain of salt '', ( or `` a pinch of salt '' ) is an idiom of the English language, which means to view something with skepticism or not to interpret something literally. History Hypotheses of the phrase 's origin include 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. The Latin phrase cum grano salis ( `` with a grain of salt '' ) is not what Pliny wrote. It is constructed according to the grammar of modern European languages rather than Classical Latin. Pliny 's actual words were addito salis grano ( `` after having added a grain of salt '' ). An alternative account says that the Roman general Pompey believed he could make himself immune to poison by ingesting small amounts of various poisons, and he took this treatment with a grain of salt to help him swallow the poison. In this version, the salt is not the antidote. It was taken merely to assist in swallowing the poison. The Latin word salis means both `` salt '' and `` wit '', so that the Latin phrase `` cum grano salis '' could be translated as both `` with a grain of salt '' and `` with a grain ( small amount ) of wit ''. References Look up grain of salt in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Jump up ^ Webster 's New World College Dictionary Jump up ^ `` Take with a grain of salt ''. www.phrases.org.uk. Jump up ^ Book 23 : LXXVI : 149 Salt History History of salt In the American Civil War International Salt Co. v. United States In Middlewich Old Salt Route In Chinese history Salt March Salt road Types Abraum Alaea Alberger Bittern Black lava Butter Celery Curing Cyclic Dairy Flake Fleur de sel Garlic Himalayan Iodised Kala namak Kosher ( Korean sea ) LoSalt Calcium chloride Pickling Potassium chloride Potassium nitrate Sodium nitrate Onion Rock Sea salt Seasoned Sel gris Smoked Truffle Food usage Brining Salting Brined cheese Salt - cured meat Salted fish Health effects Salt and cardiovascular disease Commerce and industry Salt Industry Commission Evaporation pond Production Salt mining Open - pan salt making List of countries by salt production By region In Cheshire In Ghana In Syracuse, New York Culture Salt in the Bible Salting the earth Miscellaneous Mineral lick Smelling salts Ximenes Redoubt Language portal Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grain_of_salt&oldid=799888570 '' Categories : Edible salt English - language idioms English phrases Talk About Wikipedia Dansk Deutsch Español Italiano Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 10 September 2017, at 12 : 20. About Wikipedia

Question: meaning of take it with a grain of salt
Answer: view something with skepticism