Above the salt , Below the salt Meaning, Definition & Usage

Definitions

1. phrases which have survived the old custom, in the houses of people of rank, of placing a large saltcellar near the middle of a long table, the places above which were assigned to the guests of distinction, and those below to dependents, inferiors, and poor relations. See Saltfoot.

   His fashion is not to take knowledge of him that is beneath him in clothes. He never drinks below the salt. B. Jonson.