put some salt on his tail
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Catch or apprehend him. The phrase is based on the direction given to small children to lay salt on a bird's tail if they want to catch it.
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 “put some salt on his tail” mean?
Catch or apprehend him. The phrase is based on the direction given to small children to lay salt on a bird's tail if they want to catch it.
Is “put some salt on his tail” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.