<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> <P> The phrase cum grano salis ("with a grain of salt") is not what Pliny wrote . It is constructed according to the grammar of modern European languages rather than Classical Latin . Pliny's actual words were addito salis grano ("after having added a grain of salt"). </P> <P> An alternative account says that the Roman general Pompey 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 . </P> <P> The Latin word salis means both "salt" and "wit", so that the Latin phrase "cum grano salis" could be translated as both "with a grain of salt" and "with a grain (small amount) of wit". </P>

Where does the saying take with a pinch of salt come from