attic salt
- noun
- Archaic
:
sal de ático
- The dinner conversation sparkled with attic salt, delighting all the guests.
Examples
-
Her letters were always lively, seasoned with just enough attic salt to amuse her friends.
-
Critics admired the author's attic salt, which gave his essays an enduring charm.
-
His jokes are filled with attic salt.
-
The author's use of attic salt made the novel delightful.
-
Critics admired the author's attic salt, which gave his essays an enduring charm.
-
Her letters were always lively, seasoned with just enough attic salt to amuse her friends.
-
The dinner conversation sparkled with attic salt, delighting all the guests.
Synonyms
5
7.2
A clever short remark meant to make people laugh
2
4.1
To make quick, clever, funny comments that amuse people
1
7.2
A quiet, slightly mocking kind of humor
1
5.0
The ability to make quick clever remarks that make people laugh
Antonyms
How Witty
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'subtle, refined, classical wit' is not transparently derivable from the parts for a B1 learner: 'Attic' here is a specialized cultural reference to Attica/Athenian style (not the common 'attic' = loft) and 'salt' as figurative biting or witty remark is non-literal. Because both constituents require specialised, literary knowledge and the combination is idiomatic, the expression is unpredictable from the words alone.
Etymology
Attic salt comes from praise for clever speakers in ancient Athens: attic meant 'from Athens' and people thought Athenian speech was smart and elegant. 'Salt' once meant a small 'spice' or touch that makes words lively, so attic salt came to mean a small, refined touch of clever 'wit' or 'humor'.