What is the origin of to take something with a pinch of salt?

What’s the origin of the phrase ‘Take with a grain of salt’? The idea comes from the fact that food is more easily swallowed if taken with a small amount of salt. Pliny the Elder translated an ancient text, which some have suggested was an antidote to poison, with the words ‘be taken fasting, plus a grain of salt’.

What does it mean when they say take it with a grain of salt?

If someone provides information, they might say ‘take it with a grain of salt’ afterwards, which means they are unsure if the information is accurate or true. In other words, what they said might be unreliable, so don’t take it too seriously.

How do you take life with a pinch of salt?

to not completely believe something that you are told, because you think it is unlikely to be true: You have to take everything she says with a pinch of salt, because she tends to exaggerate.

What does the proof is in the pudding mean?

BEN ZIMMER: Well, the proof is in the pudding is a new twist on a very old proverb. The original version is the proof of the pudding is in the eating. And what it meant was that you had to try out food in order to know whether it was good. In Britain, dating back centuries, pudding meant more than a sweet dessert.

What is the meaning of Coild?

transitive verb. 1 : to wind into rings or spirals coil a rope. 2 : to roll or twist into a shape resembling a coil coiled herself up on the couch. intransitive verb. 1 : to move in a circular or spiral course.

What’s the meaning of pinch of salt?

DEFINITIONS1. to doubt the truth or value of something. If I were you, I’d take his advice with a pinch of salt. Synonyms and related words. To not trust or believe someone or something.

What is the meaning of worth one’s salt?

phrase. If you say, for example, that any doctor worth his or her salt would do something, you mean that any doctor who was good at his or her job or who deserved respect would do it. Any coach worth his salt would do exactly as I did.

Where did a grain of salt originate?

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.

Where does salt come from?

Salt comes from two main sources: sea water and the sodium chloride mineral halite (also known as rock salt). Rock salt occurs in vast beds of sedimentary evaporite minerals that result from the drying up of enclosed lakes, playas, and seas.