take sth. with a grain of salt

【英语习语】take sth. with a grain of salt

take sth. with a grain of salt 这个习语的字面意思是“和一撮盐一起吃下去”，为什么要与盐一起吃呢？据说这个习语要追溯到罗马时代，罗马将军庞培曾发现一种解毒剂，必须和着一小把盐才服得下去。解毒剂难咽，加了盐也许好咽些，于是这句习语用于描述对一些不靠谱的，值得怀疑的东西，得“和着盐”才能勉强接受。

现在，对某件事情或某人说的话有所保留，将信将疑，持怀疑态度，就可以说take it with a grain of salt.

英文注释是：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.

比尔大叔讲了好些事情，不过对他所说的要有所保留，有时他喜欢把事情夸大。

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

这只是一份分发的资料，你大可以不必相信。

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

星座这东西很有趣，但是并不一定准确。我对它一向将信将疑。

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

但是至少有两个原因使我们对乐观看待气候变化的结果持保留态度。

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.

对于这些的具体数据，我们可以不用全信，但人们似乎对此达成共识，风险的确不小。

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

他并非故意歪曲事实，但是我认为我们应该对他所说的打个折扣。

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

她总是居心叵测，对她说的话你得多留神。

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

市场已经对政府官方数据普遍表示怀疑。

 

● take sth. with a grain of salt 多用于美语和澳大利亚英语，在英国常说 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.

有时候他是对的，不过，通常听他的预测要打折扣。 

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.

确实，互联网是一个大的信息来源，但网上的信息值得商榷。 

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

我听了他的解释，将信将疑；我知道他这个人不大老实。

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

如果读者对这些儿童悲剧文学将信将疑的话，那么他们在欣赏此类作品时势必会感觉无所适从。