worth one's salt

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• Received-Pronunciation: /ˈwɜːθ wʌnz ˈsɒlt/
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• General-American: /ˈwɝθ wʌnz ˈsɔlt/
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• General-American: /-sɑlt/
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• General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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First attested in 1805. Perhaps referencing the derivation of the word salary from Latin sal (“salt”), which is correct (though the related idea that soldiers were paid in salt is not). Or more generally from the fact that salt was a fairly valuable commodity in pre-modern times.

12 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Chinese Mandarin: 勝任 /胜任 (shèngrèn) — adept or competent
• Finnish: palkkansa arvoinen — adept or competent
• French: digne de ce nom — adept or competent
• Japanese: 有能 (yūnō) — adept or competent
• Polish: wart swojej ceny — adept or competent
• Russian: знающий своё дело (znajuščij svojó delo) — adept or competent
• Russian: компетентный (kompetentnyj) — adept or competent
• Russian: сведущий (sveduščij) — adept or competent
• Scots: wirth saut til his kail — adept or competent
• Spanish: acorde a su fama — adept or competent
• Spanish: valedero / merecedor de su salario — adept or competent
• Spanish: digno de su sal — adept or competent