Grain of salt

Question

Hello, folks,I'm new here, but I'll jump in with the following: (I did a cursory check of this topic in the Google archive of this group. My apologies if it has been covered.)One sometimes hears the expression, to take (something) with a large grain of salt, meant to emphasize the insignificance of something. A grain of salt is a tiny thing, and so, is used as a metphor for something insignificant or not to be taken seriously. This we all know. And yet, when someone wants to emphasize the insignificance of something, he or she is likely to say "...should be taken with a large grain of salt", or something similar. A "large grain of salt" is not only an oxymoron, but as a metaphor it cancels itself out.It seems to me, if you want to emphasize the grain-of-salt comparison, "a small grain of salt" or "a tiny grain of salt" would be more appropriate.Andy

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Hello, folks, I'm new here, but I'll jump in with the following: (I did a cursory check of this topic ... to emphasize the grain-of-salt comparison, "a small grain of salt" or "a tiny grain of salt" would be more appropriate.[/nq]
You've heard it as "with a large grain of salt". I hear it almost always as just "with a grain of salt."
The latter version gets 6 million hits on Yahoo and the former barely a hundred thousand so you may be keeping company with the kind of people you'd rather avoid. ("small grain" gets 2,000 and "tiny grain" 600). And I disagree that it is a metaphor for "something insignificant". The original Latin coinage related to an antidote to poison and the phrase is generally used to indicate a cautious approach.
Of course, it could be argued that "with a large grain ..." is a way of emphasising an even greater need for caution and circumspection than might otherwise be the case.

John Dean
Oxford

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hello, folks, I'm new here, but I'll jump in with the following: (I did a cursory check of this topic ... to emphasize the grain-of-salt comparison, "a small grain of salt" or "a tiny grain of salt" would be more appropriate.[/nq]
Your problem is that you don't know the origin of the phrase, which doesn't mean quite what you think it means. Here, stolen from Wikipedia, is a good summary of where it came from (and even though the source is Wikipedia, I believe it):
"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. An alternative account says that the Roman general believed he could make himself immune to poison by ingesting small amounts of various poisons, and he took this treatment with a grain of salt to help him swallow the poison. In this version, the salt is not the antidote, it was taken merely to assist in swallowing the poison."
More poison, more salt, ergo: More falsehood, more salt.

Bob Lieblich
Old salt

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hello, folks, I'm new here, but I'll jump in with the following: (I did a cursory check of this topic ... hears the expression, to take (something) with a large grain of salt, meant to emphasize the insignificance of something. A[/nq]
I too have heard it more and more frequently with the word "large" included. I don't like it either, not because it is an oxymoron. I don't remember the exact meaning of the phrase, but I don't think it means something insignificant. Yet I still don't like adding "large". I guess it was ok the first time, but it just seems imitative and stupid now.
It has the problem of changing "64 dollar question" to 64-thousand dollar question, without the decent excuse that one has.

If we have a cliche, let's keep it the way it is. I'm a true conservative.
[nq:1]grain of salt is a tiny thing, and so, is used as a metphor for something insignificant or not to ... emphasize the grain-of-salt comparison, "a small grain of salt" or "a tiny grain of salt" would be more appropriate. Andy[/nq]
Posters should say where they live, and for which
area they are asking questions. I have lived in
Western Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis 10 years
Chicago 6 years
Brooklyn, NY 12 years
Baltimore 26 years

Usenet · Answer

Reading from
[nq:1]It seems to me, if you want to emphasize the grain-of-salt comparison, "a small grain of salt" or "a tiny grain of salt" would be more appropriate.[/nq]
When I hear someone say "take it with a huge graine of salt", I get them to mean that if I follow the "take it with a grain of salt" philosophy and understand it, I might consider taking it with a larger grain of salt than usual. It's a judgment call on the part of the other person, informing you of their extreme (huge grain of salt) skepticism level about the idea being discussed. I tend to hear it when sharing ideas I've heard about from others as a kind of contrast to my own sometimes.

Damaeus

Grain of salt

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions