It is actually very common to modify idioms of this sort, particularly in less formal contexts. Question: Is there an explanation for the origin of this idiom which allows its meaning to change with the amount of salt described?įollow-up: Is there a common understanding of the variances I've listed that have simply never been explained to me? E.g., more salt correlates with more suspicion warranted or vice/versa? Many times, I cannot tell how the person means to change the idiom. From conversational cues, I can sometimes distinguish whether the person means (1) "this isn't just hearsay, it's very unreliable" or (2) "I trust this source a lot, so it might be incorrect, but I doubt it". In this context, I don't understand how changing the amount of salt in the idiom changes its meaning. I've understood this idiom to originate from an old antidote recipe, either real or allegorical. "Take it with an extremely tiny grain of salt, but my friend hated that movie."."Parking in that part of town isn't difficult take it with many grains of salt"."I heard that restaurant is bad, but take it with a huge grain of salt".Many times in the last year I've heard others try to exaggerate the meaning by changing the amount of salt in the idiom, for example: There is a common (IMOE) English idiom, "take with a grain (or pinch) of salt", meaning one should be skeptical about the information it accompanies.
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