✅這句英文諺語最早可追溯至古羅馬博物學家老普林尼(Pliny the Elder, 公元23–79年)。他在公元77年出版的著作《自然史》(Naturalis Historia)中提到,一種解毒劑的配方建議「加入一粒鹽後」(拉丁文為 addito salis grano,英文翻譯為 after having added a grain of salt)服用。這暗示:添加少許鹽分能降低毒性的影響。

✅隨著時間推移,"take something with a grain of salt" 逐漸演變為一種比喻用法,用來表達「對某事持保留態度或保持懷疑的心態」。當我們接收到新的資訊或聲明時,這個表達提醒我們不要全盤接受,而是應該以批判思維審視其可信度。
🛑適合 CEFR C1 英語程度學習者的例句:
例句 1 — 社群媒體情境:
We should learn to take social media success stories with a grain of salt after discovering that many influencers only share their highlights while concealing their struggles and failures. We should realize that these curated posts rarely reflect the complete reality of someone's life or business.
(我們應學會對社群媒體上的成功故事持保留態度,因為許多網紅只呈現生活亮點,卻隱瞞他們的掙扎與失敗。我們應意識到,這些精心編排的貼文很少呈現出某人生活或事業的全貌。)
例句 2 — 職場情境:
When John claimed he could finish the entire project in just two days, his colleagues decided to take his estimate with a grain of salt. Based on his track record, they knew he was overly optimistic about deadlines and typically needed at least a week for similar tasks.
(當約翰聲稱能在短短兩天內完成整個專案時,他的同事們選擇對此估計持保留態度。根據過往經驗,他們知道他對截止日期過於樂觀,類似任務通常都需至少一週時間完成。)
例句 3 — 學術觀點研討情境:
While the article raised compelling points, I took its historical interpretations with a grain of salt since they weren’t backed by primary sources.
(儘管這篇文章提出了一些引人深思的論點,我仍對其歷史詮釋持保留態度,因為文中並未引用最原始的資料作為佐證。)
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