with a grain of salt
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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.
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Words nearby with a grain of salt
witchweed, witchy, wite, witenagemot, with, with a grain of salt, withal, with all due respect, with all one's heart, with an eye to, with a vengeance
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
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