take with a grain of salt

English

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grain of salt

Wikipedia

Etymology

Calque of Latin cum grānō salis (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?), literally with a grain of salt, figuratively with a bit of common sense (from Pliny’s Pompey’s discovery of an antidote against poison to be taken with a grain of salt).

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Adverb

with a grain of salt (not comparable)

1. (idiomatic) With a little common sense and skepticism.

   I take anything I read on the Internet with a grain of salt.

   • 2008, John Douglas, Johnny Dodd, Inside the Mind of BTK: The True Story Behind the Thirty-Year Hunt for the Notorious Wichita Serial Killer, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN:

     In it, police laid out list of biographical factoids about BTK and urged residents to read it with a grain of salt. Releasing a list of his “claims,” they reasoned, might allow someone, somewhere to make a connection that police couldn't hope to.

Usage notes

• Usually appears modifying the verb take.

Coordinate terms

• face value, pinch of salt, with all the salt in the Dead Sea

Translations

with common sense and skepticism

Arabic: (please verify) فِي مَحَلِّ شَكّ (fī maḥalli šakk) Catalan: reserves (ca) f pl, cautela (ca) f, escepticisme m Chinese: Mandarin: 持懷疑態度 / 持怀疑态度 (chí huáiyí tàidù) (lit., "to be skeptical") Czech: rezerva f Danish: med et gran salt Dutch: met een korreltje zout Finnish: varauksin, varauksellisesti, varauksella (fi), varovasti (fi) French: avec des pincettes (fr) Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: mit einem Körnchen Salz Hebrew: עם קמצוץ מלח ('Im kamtsuts melah), בערבון מוגבל, בהסתייגות מסוימת Hungarian: fenntartással Icelandic: með saltkorni (taka e-u með saltkorni) Italian: col sale in zucca, con un po' di sale in zucca Japanese: 話半分 (ja) (はなしはんぶん, hanashihanbun) Latin: cum grano salis Norwegian: Bokmål: med en klype salt Nynorsk: med ei klype salt Polish: z przymrużeniem oka (pl) Portuguese: cum grano salis (pt) Russian: (adverb) скепти́чески (ru) (skeptíčeski), (adverb) недове́рчиво (ru) (nedovérčivo) Spanish: coger con pinzas, tomar con pinzas, tomar con reservas, creer la mitad, con un grano de sal Swedish: med en nypa salt (sv) Thai: ฟังหูไว้หู (fang-hǔu-wái-hǔu, literally “listen with one ear, hold the other ear”) Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can

See also

• with all the salt in the Dead Sea