3 ms·
>big grain of salt Isn’t the point of the “grain of Salt” to indicate that it is trivial? If so, then by saying “big grain of salt” aren’t you undermining the
by voisin 6y ago
>big grain of salt
Isn’t the point of the “grain of Salt” to indicate that it is trivial? If so, then by saying “big grain of salt” aren’t you undermining the point of the original statement?
I see this regularly and wonder if I am missing something.
- dragonwriter 6y ago> Isn’t the point of the “grain of Salt” to indicate that it is trivial? No, it's from an ancient adage about food being mmore easily swallowed when accompanied by salt. The “grain of salt” you take with a dubious statement with is to make it easier to swallow. A “big grain of salt” is a suggestion that it needs more assistance to be swallowable than a typical target of the saying.
- chordalkeyboard 6y agoI interpret it as emphasizing the colloquialism. Also it seems to wave towards the perceived significance of the statement. "I heard Marvel is releasing three movies in 2021" "You should take that with a grain of salt" "I heard Marvel and DC are doing a Justice League / X-Men crossover in 2021" "You should take that with a big grain of salt"
- brianmcc 6y agoThe phrase means the same as "be sceptical". Vaccine contains microchips? Yeah you're going to want to take that with a major grain (pinch in the UK!) of salt / be highly sceptical about it. https://thesaurus.plus/related/pinch_of_salt/scepticism https://thesaurus.plus/related/pinch_of_salt/scepticism