When It Rains, It Pours

When It Rains, It Pours

Back in the days when one would add rice to the salt shaker to facilitate its shaking rather than it clumping together, the process by which the salt clumped was called ‘bridging.’ For the purposes of this essay, I shall build a bridge of salty terms in an effort to show, as writers, how it affects our language.

Technology, being what it is, advanced and lo and behold, the salt would now pour out freely, regardless of rain and damp weather, thus the catch phrase made famous by Morton Salt. Further back in the days of salt cellers, this was not a problem as one would merely use the small, usually silver, spoon to mash any salt balls flat and spoon out the required amount to season to taste. As salt was a commodity of the wealthy, salt was used with much restraint, assuming one was fortunate enough to be seated ‘above the salt’ thereby having access to it in the first place.

History has been spiced by the need, desires and necessity of salt. From ancient Chinese publications dated back to 2700 B.C. and up through the salty roads of history, salt has been sought after as a seasoning, preservative and antibiotic. Salt words course through our language and are the base root of words like salad and salami as well as being part of the etymology of cities such as Salzburg.

The phrases ‘worth his salt’ or, conversely, ‘not worth his salt’ arise from salt being used as a form of money, indeed, at one point in time, was traded ounce for ounce with gold. Are you worth your salt? Roman soldiers were paid for their labors, in part, with salt. This was called their salarium argentum or salt money and eventually became the English word ‘salary.’

On the other hand, not being worth your salt derived from ancient Grecian trade in slaves for salt: When it came to deciding your life’s work, working in the salt mines was not a sought after occupation, hence the import of slaves to work the mines. It was brutally hard, unrewarding, and oft dangerous work as compared to how modern folk spend their days ‘in the salt mines.’

Food, in the days before refrigeration, often went bad long before it was all eaten. A pinch of salt would cover rancid taste and thus make it able to be served when company called, lest one seem inhospitable. Indeed, the use of the precious salt was considered to be an honor under the circumstances!

This is not to be confused with a grain of salt or cum grano salis which implies a healthy dose of skepticism or the fact that something was not worth wasting salt on in the first place.

Remember the crusty old salt of seafaring novels? This seasoned sailor was one who had weathered many storms on the open sea. These sailors were often encrusted with dried salt by storm’s end, and fresh water being reserved for drinking, by the conclusion of the voyage were often almost preserved due to the salt acting upon their skin. To attain the title of ‘old salt’ was an honorary term given to a sailor who had survived many voyages in the days when a sailor’s life was usually measured in how few voyages they completed without having been washed overboard.


Salt was a valuable, rare commodity in the days of yore and yet to this day when we add value to an item for sale, it is called ‘salting an invoice.’ Should you end up in a brawl over said object, and have to part with it for less than you’d like, it would be like ‘rubbing salt in your wound’ –ed pride. Salt, one of the earliest antibiotics, would be rubbed into wounds of those who could afford it, a most painful process, but one which often would keep a cut or stab wound from festering. In other words, it hurt in the short run, but healed in the long run thus allowing you to continue on as one who was ‘the salt of the earth.’

These days, health warriors warn against the overuse of an inexpensive seasoning that is easily available. We liberally douse our french-fries, corn on the cob and popcorn with it. Or we refrain from using it in an effort to lower blood pressure, swollen ankles, and water retention.

Sodium chloride or NaCl is necessary for life. As a writer, understanding the source of the many phrases that salt our language is necessary to add dimension and depth to our work. So often, writers use words with no concept of their etymology and yet, understanding the basis for the terms used can often add a touch of spice to an otherwise bland bit of writing. I have touched on only a few of the many salty terms that flavor the English language, but it was amazing how, once the sack split open, how many phrases poured out, tumbling one after another into conscious thought. Just another variation of when it rains, it pours.






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