What does the quote "Take what so-and-so says with a grain of salt" actually mean?

Question

And where did it even come from?

Answer 1

It means that what so-and-so says is not credible and you shouldn't pay attention to it or let it affect your decisionmaking.

It dates 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. Salt is not known in modern toxicology to be an antidote to any poison."

Answer 2

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.

Well, you've certainly come to the right place: "grain of salt" is my middle name. I am known among my friends, in fact, as Mister Yeah-Right....

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 "*** 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. The amount of salt metaphorically needed to make an unlikely statement acceptable often varies from a few grains to a few pounds. With all the flapdoodle being thrust at us these days, I'm surprised there isn't a national salt shortage.

Answer 3

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

Answer 4

The Romans used the phrase, "*** grano salis" (with a grain of salt) to mean one should not take a statement as fact without supporting evidence or the weight of logic, but should be a little skeptical and consider the validity of what was said. The salt or seasoning was a reference to skepticism.

Answer 5

It means to be skeptical about what the person says.

With a grain of salt is a translation of Latin *** grano salis.

There are several theories as to its origins. One is that if something needs to be more palatable, you should add a bit of salt to it.

The other has to do with Pliny the Elder and an antidote to a poison, which should be taken *** grano salis; and that he might have thought this phrase meant to be skeptical about it.

Add: LOL, just noticed that Yahoo censored the latin word "c.u.m."

Answer 6

In the old days, food was very suspect. It went bad, but being hard to come by, people would choke it down (I guess their constitutions wer tougher back then). Salt was a valuable commodity as it made something nasty partially palatable. Take with a grain of salt means to take something that is suspect, being aware of what it is being offered to you, in the event that "you need to add salt to make it workable in your mind"

Answer 7

Taking 'something' with a 'pinch of salt' means to take somebody's remarks, comments or observations in a humorous, non-serious manner and not to act it out or take any action that may be harmful or injurious to you or to others. Like for ex., if someone says, "Go to hell", you have no other option but to take it with a pinch of salt.!!

Answer 8

Take it VERY lightly. (like a grain of salt)

Answer 9

Means: Don't worry about It.
Origin: DK

Answer 10

It's simple: To take things seriously.