March 18, 2005
Look what I found in the garden . . .
Grano salis?
A New Zealand man who hit a metal object while digging the garden was shocked to find it was a . . . Second World War bren-gun carrier. . .From Ananova, which misidentifies the beast as a tank. More on the Universal Carrier here.His wife Jane said: "He started uncovering it, thinking he could pull whatever it was out, but he had no luck.
Posted by David on March 18, 2005 1:53 PM
Well, it's from Ananova, which should be well-salted at all times.
Where does "grain of salt" as an expression come from? I ask you, because you are a walking encyclopedia-cum-dictionary.
Posted by: Sarah
on March 18, 2005 3:01 PM
Sarah, if I may and David doesn't mind:
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=grain+of+salt&searchmode=phrase
"To take something with a grain of salt is from 1647, from Mod[ern].L[atin]. cum grano salis.
Not really an answer, is it? Well,
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=176207
is much more complete, with a number of references, which alas boil down to "It's been around so long noone can trace it definitively."
Posted by: John Anderson on March 19, 2005 2:49 AM
gmail.com