attic salt
Preserved but no longer current.
Elegant and delicate wit. Salt, both in Latin and Greek, was a common term for wit, or sparkling thought well expressed; thus Cicero says, Scipio omnes sale superabat. (Scipio surpassed all in wit). The Athenians were noted for their wit and elegant turns of thought.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “attic salt” mean?
Elegant and delicate wit. Salt, both in Latin and Greek, was a common term for wit, or sparkling thought well expressed; thus Cicero says, Scipio omnes sale superabat. (Scipio surpassed all in wit). The Athenians were noted for their wit and elegant turns of thought.
Is “attic salt” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.