<P> "(With) a grain of salt", (or "a pinch of salt") is an idiom of the English language, which means to view something with skepticism or not to interpret something literally . </P> <P> Hypotheses of the phrase's origin include 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 . </P>

Meaning of take it with a grain of salt