Meaning & use
worth your salt
Last updated
Meaning
phraseidiom
Good at what you do and deserving the money you are paid.
Grammar: Used after 'be' or 'seem', usually with a possessive word like my, your, his, her, our, their.
Patterns
- be worth your salt
- anyone worth their salt
Any teacher worth her salt knows that students learn in different ways.
He's been with the company for ten years and he's certainly worth his salt.
If you're worth your salt as a mechanic, you'll find the problem quickly.
Common combinations
- be worth your salt
- She's worth her salt as a manager; the team trusts her completely.
- anyone worth their salt
- Anyone worth their salt would check the figures twice.
- not worth your salt
- After that mistake, he felt he wasn't worth his salt.
Synonyms and how they differ
- competent
- Competent means having enough skill for a job, but it doesn't suggest you deserve your pay.
- capable
- Capable means able to do something, often used for a particular task, not for general worth.
Opposites
Commonly confused: worth your salt or take with a grain of salt?
worth your salt vs take with a grain of salt
This different idiom means to treat information as possibly not true. 'Worth your salt' is about a person's ability, not about doubting facts.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'worth your salt' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Option 0 correctly uses 'worth your salt' after 'is' to mean she deserves her pay. Option 1 confuses it with 'worth its salt' (a different phrase about seasoning). Option 2 confuses it with 'with a grain of salt.' Option 3 uses the wrong structure; 'worth your salt' is not followed by an infinitive.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “worth your salt”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.