Prendere con le pinze in Italian
| Literal translation | To take [sth] with pliers |
| Meaning | To be skeptical about something |
| IPA pronunciation | /ˈprɛn.dere kon le ˈpint͡se/ |
Prendere con le pinze
To take with a pinch of salt
Where does this come from? Prendere con le pinze means to take something with caution or skepticism in Italian. Using tongs and pliers to pick up something suggests the need to be cautios. This expression can also be found as prendere con le molle, “to take with tongs”.
For example, you can say…
Luca prende con le pinze tutto quello che gli si dice.
Luke takes everything he is told with a grain of salt.
Prendi con le molle tutto quello che leggi su quel giornale.
Take everything you read in that paper with a grain of salt.
➡️ Related lessons
- Prendere (to take)
- Pinza (plier)
- Con (preposition)
- Prepositions
- Definite articles
- All Italian expressions
More free Italian resources
You might want to keep learning Italian online with these free Italian resources:
Aiuta Lingookies con un 👍!
❤️ If you liked this lesson on the Italian expression prendere con le pinze, share it with your friends!