with a grain of salt

Idioms and Phrases

Also, with a pinch of salt . Skeptically, with reservations. For example, I always take Sandy's stories about illnesses with a grain of salt—she tends to exaggerate . This expression is a translation of the Latin cum grano salis , which Pliny used in describing Pompey's discovery of an antidote for poison (to be taken with a grain of salt). It was soon adopted by English writers.