"with a grain of salt" meaning in English

See with a grain of salt in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adverb

Audio: En-au-with a grain of salt.ogg [Australia]
Etymology: Calque of Latin cum grānō salis , literally with a grain of salt, figuratively with a bit of common sense (from Pliny’s Pompey’s discovery of an antidote against poison to be taken with a grain of salt). Etymology templates: {{calque|en|la|cum grānō salis}} Calque of Latin cum grānō salis Head templates: {{en-adv|-}} with a grain of salt (not comparable)
  1. (idiomatic) With a little common sense and skepticism. Wikipedia link: grain of salt Tags: idiomatic, not-comparable Related terms: with all the salt in the Dead Sea Coordinate_terms: face value, pinch of salt, with all the salt in the Dead Sea Translations (with common sense and skepticism): reserves [feminine, plural] (Catalan), cautela [feminine] (Catalan), escepticisme [masculine] (Catalan), 持懷疑態度 (Chinese Mandarin), 持怀疑态度 (chí huáiyí tàidù) (Chinese Mandarin), rezerva [feminine] (Czech), tage med et gran salt (Danish), met een korreltje zout (Dutch), varauksin (Finnish), varauksellisesti (Finnish), varauksella (Finnish), varovasti (Finnish), avec des pincettes (French), cum grano salis (english: directly equivalent, but learned) (German), mit einem Körnchen Salz (German), mit gesundem Menschenverstand (english: otherwise depending on the context) (German), mit gewissem Vorbehalt (German), nicht wortwörtlich (German), nicht auf die Goldwaage legen (German), nicht blind glauben (German), עם קמצוץ מלח ('Im kamtsuts melah) (Hebrew), בערבון מוגבל (Hebrew), בהסתייגות מסוימת (Hebrew), fenntartással (Hungarian), col sale in zucca (Italian), con un po' di sale in zucca (Italian), 話半分 (hanashihanbun) (alt: はなしはんぶん) (Japanese), cum grano salis (Latin), med en klype salt (Norwegian Bokmål), med ei klype salt (Norwegian Nynorsk), z przymrużeniem oka (Polish), cum grano salis (Portuguese), скепти́чески (skeptíčeski) [adverb] (Russian), недове́рчиво (nedovérčivo) [adverb] (Russian), coger con pinzas (Spanish), tomar con pinzas (Spanish), tomar con reservas (Spanish), creer la mitad (Spanish), con un grano de sal (Spanish), med en nypa salt (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-with_a_grain_of_salt-en-adv-QfJWo5Dm Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Mandarin terms with non-redundant manual transliterations

Download JSON data for with a grain of salt meaning in English (7.0kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "cum grānō salis"
      },
      "expansion": "Calque of Latin cum grānō salis",
      "name": "calque"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Calque of Latin cum grānō salis , literally with a grain of salt, figuratively with a bit of common sense (from Pliny’s Pompey’s discovery of an antidote against poison to be taken with a grain of salt).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "with a grain of salt (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adv"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Mandarin terms with non-redundant manual transliterations",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant manual transliterations",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "coordinate_terms": [
        {
          "word": "face value"
        },
        {
          "word": "pinch of salt"
        },
        {
          "word": "with all the salt in the Dead Sea"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I take anything I read on the Internet with a grain of salt."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, John Douglas, Johnny Dodd, Inside the Mind of BTK: The True Story Behind the Thirty-Year Hunt for the Notorious Wichita Serial Killer, John Wiley & Sons",
          "text": "In it, police laid out list of biographical factoids about BTK and urged residents to read it with a grain of salt. Releasing a list of his “claims,” they reasoned, might allow someone, somewhere to make a connection that police couldn't hope to.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "With a little common sense and skepticism."
      ],
      "id": "en-with_a_grain_of_salt-en-adv-QfJWo5Dm",
      "links": [
        [
          "common sense",
          "common sense"
        ],
        [
          "skepticism",
          "skepticism"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) With a little common sense and skepticism."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "with all the salt in the Dead Sea"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "not-comparable"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "tags": [
            "feminine",
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "reserves"
        },
        {
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "cautela"
        },
        {
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "escepticisme"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "持懷疑態度"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "chí huáiyí tàidù",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "持怀疑态度"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "rezerva"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "tage med et gran salt"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "met een korreltje zout"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "varauksin"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "varauksellisesti"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "varauksella"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "varovasti"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "avec des pincettes"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "english": "directly equivalent, but learned",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "cum grano salis"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "mit einem Körnchen Salz"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "english": "otherwise depending on the context",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "mit gesundem Menschenverstand"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "mit gewissem Vorbehalt"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "nicht wortwörtlich"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "nicht auf die Goldwaage legen"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "nicht blind glauben"
        },
        {
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "roman": "'Im kamtsuts melah",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "עם קמצוץ מלח"
        },
        {
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "בערבון מוגבל"
        },
        {
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "בהסתייגות מסוימת"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "fenntartással"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "col sale in zucca"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "con un po' di sale in zucca"
        },
        {
          "alt": "はなしはんぶん",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "hanashihanbun",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "話半分"
        },
        {
          "code": "la",
          "lang": "Latin",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "cum grano salis"
        },
        {
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "med en klype salt"
        },
        {
          "code": "nn",
          "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "med ei klype salt"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "z przymrużeniem oka"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "cum grano salis"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "skeptíčeski",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "tags": [
            "adverb"
          ],
          "word": "скепти́чески"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "nedovérčivo",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "tags": [
            "adverb"
          ],
          "word": "недове́рчиво"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "coger con pinzas"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "tomar con pinzas"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "tomar con reservas"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "creer la mitad"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "con un grano de sal"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
          "word": "med en nypa salt"
        }
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "grain of salt"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-with a grain of salt.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/40/En-au-with_a_grain_of_salt.ogg/En-au-with_a_grain_of_salt.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/En-au-with_a_grain_of_salt.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "with a grain of salt"
}
{
  "coordinate_terms": [
    {
      "word": "face value"
    },
    {
      "word": "pinch of salt"
    },
    {
      "word": "with all the salt in the Dead Sea"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "cum grānō salis"
      },
      "expansion": "Calque of Latin cum grānō salis",
      "name": "calque"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Calque of Latin cum grānō salis , literally with a grain of salt, figuratively with a bit of common sense (from Pliny’s Pompey’s discovery of an antidote against poison to be taken with a grain of salt).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "with a grain of salt (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adv"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "with all the salt in the Dead Sea"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English adverbs",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms calqued from Latin",
        "English terms derived from Latin",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English uncomparable adverbs",
        "Mandarin terms with non-redundant manual transliterations",
        "Requests for review of Arabic translations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I take anything I read on the Internet with a grain of salt."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, John Douglas, Johnny Dodd, Inside the Mind of BTK: The True Story Behind the Thirty-Year Hunt for the Notorious Wichita Serial Killer, John Wiley & Sons",
          "text": "In it, police laid out list of biographical factoids about BTK and urged residents to read it with a grain of salt. Releasing a list of his “claims,” they reasoned, might allow someone, somewhere to make a connection that police couldn't hope to.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "With a little common sense and skepticism."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "common sense",
          "common sense"
        ],
        [
          "skepticism",
          "skepticism"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) With a little common sense and skepticism."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "not-comparable"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "grain of salt"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-with a grain of salt.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/40/En-au-with_a_grain_of_salt.ogg/En-au-with_a_grain_of_salt.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/En-au-with_a_grain_of_salt.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "tags": [
        "feminine",
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "reserves"
    },
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "cautela"
    },
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "escepticisme"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "持懷疑態度"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "chí huáiyí tàidù",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "持怀疑态度"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "rezerva"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "tage med et gran salt"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "met een korreltje zout"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "varauksin"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "varauksellisesti"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "varauksella"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "varovasti"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "avec des pincettes"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "english": "directly equivalent, but learned",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "cum grano salis"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "mit einem Körnchen Salz"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "english": "otherwise depending on the context",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "mit gesundem Menschenverstand"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "mit gewissem Vorbehalt"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "nicht wortwörtlich"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "nicht auf die Goldwaage legen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "nicht blind glauben"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "roman": "'Im kamtsuts melah",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "עם קמצוץ מלח"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "בערבון מוגבל"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "בהסתייגות מסוימת"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "fenntartással"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "col sale in zucca"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "con un po' di sale in zucca"
    },
    {
      "alt": "はなしはんぶん",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "hanashihanbun",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "話半分"
    },
    {
      "code": "la",
      "lang": "Latin",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "cum grano salis"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "med en klype salt"
    },
    {
      "code": "nn",
      "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "med ei klype salt"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "z przymrużeniem oka"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "cum grano salis"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "skeptíčeski",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "tags": [
        "adverb"
      ],
      "word": "скепти́чески"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "nedovérčivo",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "tags": [
        "adverb"
      ],
      "word": "недове́рчиво"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "coger con pinzas"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "tomar con pinzas"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "tomar con reservas"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "creer la mitad"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "con un grano de sal"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "with common sense and skepticism",
      "word": "med en nypa salt"
    }
  ],
  "word": "with a grain of salt"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (93a6c53 and 21a9316). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.