take sth. with a grain of salt

【英語習語】take sth. with a grain of salt

take sth. with a grain of salt 這個習語的字面意思是「和一撮鹽一塊兒吃下去」，爲何要與鹽一塊兒吃呢？聽說這個習語要追溯到羅馬時代，羅馬將軍龐培曾發現一種解毒劑，必須和着一小把鹽才服得下去。解毒劑難嚥，加了鹽也許好咽些，因而這句習語用於描述對一些不靠譜的，值得懷疑的東西，得「和着鹽」才能勉強接受。

如今，對某件事情或某人說的話有所保留，將信將疑，持懷疑態度，就能夠說take it with a grain of salt.

英文註釋是：To take something with a grain of salt means to accept it but to maintain a degree of skepticism about its truth.

例句：

1）Uncle Bill tells some stories, but we take what he says with a grain of salt because he sometimes likes to exaggerate or makes things up.

比爾大叔講了好些事情，不過對他所說的要有所保留，有時他喜歡把事情誇大。

2）This is only a sort of handout. You may take it with a grain of salt.

這只是一份分發的資料，你大能夠沒必要相信。

3）Horoscope is fun, but it's not necessarily accurate. I always take it with a grain of salt.

星座這東西頗有趣，可是並不必定準確。我對它一貫將信將疑。

4）But there are at least two reasons to take sanguine assessments of the consequences of climate change with a grain of salt.

可是至少有兩個緣由使咱們對樂觀看待氣候變化的結果持保留態度。

5）As for these figures, we may take them with a grain of salt, but  there seems to be a consensus that the risk is substantial.

對於這些的具體數據，咱們能夠不用全信，但人們彷佛對此達成共識，風險的確不小。

6）He didn't deliberately mislead, but I think we should take what hesaid with a grain of salt. 

他並不是故意歪曲事實，可是我認爲咱們應該對他所說的打個折扣。

7）She always has an ax to grind. You should take whatever she says with a grain of salt.

她老是居心叵測，對她說的話你得多留神。

8）Markets already take the government's official data with a grain of salt.

市場已經對政府官方數據廣泛表示懷疑。

 

● take sth. with a grain of salt 多用於美語和澳大利亞英語，在英國常說 take sth. with a pinch of salt ( Note: 「Take it with a grain of salt」 is more common in American and Australian English, while 「 take sth. with a pinch of salt」 is more common in British English.)

1）Sometimes he is right, but usually his predictions have to be taken with a pinch of salt.

有時候他是對的，不過，一般聽他的預測要打折扣。 

2）Indeed, the Internet is a big source of information, but what is said on the Internet should be taken with a pinch of salt.

確實，互聯網是一個大的信息來源，但網上的信息值得商榷。 

3）I took his explanation with a pinch of salt; I knew he was not a particularly honest man.

我聽了他的解釋，將信將疑；我知道他這我的不大老實。

4）But if readers take their misery literature with a pinch of salt, that surely makes our taste for it even more baffling. 

若是讀者對這些兒童悲劇文學將信將疑的話，那麼他們在欣賞此類做品時勢必會感受無所適從。