<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> <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>

Where does with a grain of salt come from