April 25, 2001

salt

What is the actual derivation of the phrase with a grain of salt? It seems to be used to indicate non-belief or skepticism. However, a grain of salt would appear to make something more appetizing.

Lynne Xavier and Charles McNeill also asked about this expression.

In these days of low-sodium diets, when salt is often regarded as a sort of poison, we tend to forget how crucial salt has been in the history of civilization. Wars have been fought over salt, and roads have been built to transport it. The Indo-European word *sal is the source of the word for salt in all of the modern European languages. Roman soldiers originally received salt rations or a salarium; later, they were given money to buy their own salt, but it was still called a salarium, the source of our word salary. Sauce, salami, salad, sausage, and salsa also come from the word for salt.

Our expressions involving salt reflect its importance in ancient cultures. If a person is "not worth his salt" (an expression dating back to the first century), he isn't worth the cost of the food he's eating. In Greek, Roman, and Semitic cultures, "eating or taking salt " with a person created the sacred bond of hospitality. Salt has been used in rituals since ancient times. The devil is said to hate salt, which is why it has been used in holy water and placed on the tongues of infants at baptism.

Salt is a symbol of purity and incorruptibility. In Numbers 18:19, "a covenant of salt" means a covenant that cannot be broken. Jesus says to his followers, in Matthew 5:13, "Ye are the salt of the earth." In Leonardo da Vinci's painting of the Last Supper, Judas Iscariot is identified by the saltcellar knocked over by his arm. The superstition that it is unlucky to spill salt originated among the Romans.

If a dinner guest is seated "above the salt," he or she is sitting between the saltcellar and the head of the table, i.e. in a position of honor.

With a grain of salt is a translation of Latin cum grano salis. According to The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, the Roman historian Pliny the Elder wrote that the general Pompey had discovered an antidote for poison that was to be taken "cum grano salis." This was apparently to make it effective. That doesn't quite explain the current meaning, though. Other etymologists believe that, at some point centuries later, someone decided that Pliny had been skeptical about either the antidote or its efficacy and took cum grano salis to mean 'with a dose of skepticism'. That has been its meaning since its first appearance in English in the 17th century. It seems likely to me that the derivation is something like this: If you're going to believe that tale, you'd better take it with a grain of salt to make it more palatable (as salt makes food more palatable). I don't know that we need to go back to the story of Pompey's antidote for a derivation for the phrase.

In researching this, I found a fascinating etymological tidbit. It has never made sense to me to call the little dish or shaker on my table a "cellar." Well, here's the answer. The "cellar" part of "saltcellar" comes from Anglo-Norman saler which comes in turn from Latin sal meaning 'salt'. Early in the 13th century, the English word celer meant 'a container for salt'. Gradually, the etymological link between "salt" and "celer" was forgotten, and "salt" was tacked onto the beginning of the word, which became salte-seler in the 15th century. In other words, it was "a saltcellar for salt." Eventually, the connection of "celer" with "salt" was lost completely, and "celer" was assimilated into the more familiar "cellar," which comes from Latin "cellarium," meaning 'a set of cells' or 'a receptacle for food'.

Georgia