Natural History: A Selection (Classics) Cover
Podcast Mentions

Natural History A Selection (Classics)

Gaius Pliny

Pliny's Natural History is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology. Mingling acute observation with often wild speculation, it offers a fascinating view of the world as it was understood in the first century AD, whether describing the danger of...

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It was referenced as a possible origin of the phrase 'take it with a grain of salt', stemming from a recipe for poison protection using a grain of salt. However, it was deemed not metaphorical but literal in its context.

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Well according to Pliny the Elder it wouldn't they think that that's where the phrase take this with a grain of salt really finds its origin

— Episode: Short Stuff: More Phrase Origins

Episode: Short Stuff: More Phrase Origins

It was referenced as a possible origin of the phrase 'take it with a grain of salt', stemming from a recipe for poison protection using a grain of salt. However, it was deemed not metaphorical but literal in its context.

"

Well according to Pliny the Elder it wouldn't they think that that's where the phrase take this with a grain of salt really finds its origin

That that's where it finds its origin That's actually kind of a referential thing to that to a recipe he gave under the walnut section

take two dried walnuts two figs and 20 leaves of rue pound them all together With the addition of a grain of salt.

Okay, because it's not metaphorical it's literal if you want to talk about metaphor

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