Google Answers_ _Take It With a Grain of Salt_ Origins
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Google Answers: "Take it with a grain of salt" origins View Question Q: "Take it with a grain of salt" origins ( Answered , 0 Comments ) Question Subject: "Take it with a grain of salt" origins Category: Miscellaneous Asked by: mrtrivia-ga List Price: $2.00 Posted: 14 Mar 2003 12:03 PST Expires: 13 Apr 2003 13:03 PDT Question ID: 176207 I was wondering what the origin of the phrase "take it with a grain of salt" was. Why does this mean to be skeptical? Answer Subject: Re: "Take it with a grain of salt" origins Answered By: thx1138-ga on 14 Mar 2003 12:29 PST Rated: Hello mrtrivia and thank you for your question. There are several explanations as to the origins of the phrase "take it with a grain of salt" and it's interesting that you use the word "grain" in your question, I usually use "pinch" however the phrase has the same meaning: "Dear Word Detective: Please help me! I have been looking forever for the origins of the phrase "Take that with a grain of salt." I was hoping you could help. -- Bethany Lankin, via the internet." "To "take something with a grain of salt," of course, means to not entirely believe a story, or to view it with a healthy degree of skepticism. It doesn't mean that you think the person recounting the story is completely crazy or making it all up. It just means you don't want to be close enough to get caught under the net his keepers are fixing to drop on him. It's fitting that you've been looking for the origin of this phrase "forever," because "with a grain of salt" has been around nearly that long. It's actually a translation of the Latin phrase "cum grano salis." There seems to be a bit of a debate about the significance of the Latin phrase, however. Etymologist Christine Ammer traces it to Pompey's discovery, recorded by Pliny in 77 A.D., of an antidote to poison which had to be taken with a small amount of salt to be effective. Everyone else seems to bypass that explanation and trace "with a grain of salt" to the dinner table, where a dash of salt can often make uninspired cooking more palatable. "With a grain of salt" first appeared in English in 1647, and has been in constant use since then." http://www.word-detective.com/052598.html#grainosalt http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=176207 (1 of 3)9/15/2008 11:31:35 PM
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Transcript of Google Answers_ _Take It With a Grain of Salt_ Origins
Google Answers: "Take it with a grain of salt" origins
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Q: "Take it with a grain of salt" origins ( Answered , 0 Comments )
Question Subject: "Take it with a grain of salt" origins Category: Miscellaneous Asked by: mrtrivia-ga List Price: $2.00
Posted: 14 Mar 2003 12:03 PST Expires: 13 Apr 2003 13:03 PDT Question ID: 176207
I was wondering what the origin of the phrase "take it with a grain ofsalt" was. Why does this mean to be skeptical?
Answer Subject: Re: "Take it with a grain of salt" origins Answered By: thx1138-ga on 14 Mar 2003 12:29 PST Rated:
Hello mrtrivia and thank you for your question.
There are several explanations as to the origins of the phrase "takeit with a grain of salt" and it's interesting that you use the word"grain" in your question, I usually use "pinch" however the phrase hasthe same meaning:
"Dear Word Detective: Please help me! I have been looking forever forthe origins of the phrase "Take that with a grain of salt." I washoping you could help. -- Bethany Lankin, via the internet.""To "take something with a grain of salt," of course, means to notentirely believe a story, or to view it with a healthy degree ofskepticism. It doesn't mean that you think the person recounting thestory is completely crazy or making it all up. It just means you don'twant to be close enough to get caught under the net his keepers arefixing to drop on him.
It's fitting that you've been looking for the origin of this phrase"forever," because "with a grain of salt" has been around nearly thatlong. It's actually a translation of the Latin phrase "cum granosalis." There seems to be a bit of a debate about the significance ofthe Latin phrase, however. Etymologist Christine Ammer traces it toPompey's discovery, recorded by Pliny in 77 A.D., of an antidote topoison which had to be taken with a small amount of salt to beeffective. Everyone else seems to bypass that explanation and trace"with a grain of salt" to the dinner table, where a dash of salt canoften make uninspired cooking more palatable. "With a grain of salt"first appeared in English in 1647, and has been in constant use sincethen."http://www.word-detective.com/052598.html#grainosalt
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=176207 (1 of 3)9/15/2008 11:31:35 PM
Google Answers: "Take it with a grain of salt" origins
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Take with a pinch of salt
"Meaning Accept a truth but with reservations. Origin The idea comes from the fact that food is more easily swallowed iftaken with a small amount of salt. Pliny the elder translated anancient antidote for poison with the words 'be taken fasting, plus agrain of salt'. The phrase has only been in use since the 17th centurythough."http://phrases.shu.ac.uk/meanings/345700.html
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"with a grain of saltWith reservations; skeptically: Take that advice with a grain ofsalt."http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=with%20a%20grain%20of%20salt
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According to Mirriam Websters dictionary:"Main Entry: grain of saltDate: 1647: a skeptical attitude" http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=grain+of+salt
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From Wikipedia:"Grain of saltFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
A grain of salt is a literal translation of an ancient Latin phrase,cum grano salis.
A sort of proverb, the Latin expression indicated that in everythingwe should use at least a grain of the salt with which the head was, inRoman times, presumed to be filled. It was, then, a recall to commonsense, a request for prudence or reflection before action.
To take something "with a grain of salt" now means to accept it lessthan fully. The Oxford English Dictionary dates this usage back to1647"
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=176207 (2 of 3)9/15/2008 11:31:35 PM
Google Answers: "Take it with a grain of salt" origins
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grain+of+salt
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Thank you for your question, ansd if you have and questions regardingmy answer do not hesitate to ask for a clarification.
Best regards
THX1138
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