net worth your salt
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Not worth your wages. The reference is to the salary (q.v.) composed of rations of salt and other necessaries served out by the Romans to their soldiers, etc.
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 “net worth your salt” mean?
Not worth your wages. The reference is to the salary (q.v.) composed of rations of salt and other necessaries served out by the Romans to their soldiers, etc.
Is “net worth your salt” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.