Idiom 'with a grain of salt'

[Haihao]

Hi,

Could you help me with:

[Mister Micawber]

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It has nothing to do with Pliny's opinion about Pompey. From Wikipaedia:

The phrase comes from Pliny the Elder's Naturalis Historia, regarding the discovery of a recipe for an antidote to a poison. In the antidote, one of the ingredients was a grain of salt. Threats involving the poison were thus to be taken "with a grain of salt" and therefore less seriously.
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Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mister Micawber

[Haihao]

You did give me what I wanted, Mister Micawber. Thank you so very much.

haihao

[Jamie (K)]

This is interesting. I was always told that, since salt was used as money in the Roman empire, "take it with a grain of salt" meant not to trust someone's statement unless he backs it up with something concrete, i.e., puts his money where his mouth is.