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with a grain of salt

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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Example Sentences

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"POWs are a particularly vulnerable category of witnesses, any evidence they give should be taken with a grain of salt."

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“Taiwan is taking it with a grain of salt. I think there’s an understanding that nice, big, round numbers create bargaining positions, but may not be the final numbers that are agreed on,” said Wen-ti Sung, a political scientist at Australia National University who specializes in cross-strait relations.

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James learned to take everything with a grain of salt.

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I’m from DOJ and I spent a lot of time there so take this with a grain of salt, but this is humongous in DOJ’s history.

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As ever, the “record usage of this platform” boasts should be taken with a grain of salt, but X was undoubtedly a well-trafficked feed of information, both reliable and seriously unreliable, this election cycle.

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with withal

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