# What does ‘take with a grain of salt’ mean?

To “take with a grain of salt” means to treat with scepticism. Brewer's traces the phrase to the Latin 'cum grano salis', found in Pliny the Elder as advice for taking a medicinal remedy; the figurative sense of scepticism grew from there.

## What it means

- Brewer's traces the phrase to the Latin 'cum grano salis', found in Pliny the Elder as advice for taking a medicinal remedy; the figurative sense of scepticism grew from there.

## Action steps

1. Very common when passing on doubtful information.
2. Example: Take that rumour with a grain of salt.

## Sources

- [Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) — Internet Archive scan](https://archive.org/details/brewers-dictionary-of-phrase-and-fable)

---
Canonical: https://bestidiomanswers.com/answers/take-with-a-grain-of-salt
Author: Best Idiom Answers — https://bestidiomanswers.com
Publisher: Best Idiom Answers
Published: 2026-07-18T04:16:35.627113+00:00
Modified: 2026-07-18T04:16:35.627113+00:00
Last verified: 2026-07-18
License: Citation License 1.0 — https://bestexpertanswers.com/license
© Adolicious LLC