手塩にかける ...um what?

Japanese Language Questions
1

So, I am at work having done all my WK lessons and all the other stuff from the other resources I use, and I found a random site that I fill in the blanks in sentences I am given. Nice way to pass the time.

There are some stuff that I don’t know yet but I may guess them correctly.

Then I found this expression.

手塩にかける. To take care of someone (or something similar).

I know that 手塩 is table salt. How the heck did this expression came from salt? :joy:

I am so curious, I stopped everything to ask this question.

Edit: I would like to note that the whole sentence is this

お前はわしが手塩にかけた人間だ

which seems very possible to come from an anime or a manga character.

2

Yeah, interesting expression. Japanese has a **itton of them. I have not personally seen it used in the wild yet.
You can read 「手塩にかける」の意味や使い方 わかりやすく解説 Weblio辞書 由来 section for a bit on how it came to be.
手塩を用いて細かく味を調整することが手塩にかけるとされていた。このことから転じて、この言葉は現代において用いられる用法になった
Are the important sentences. It also has links to articles going into more detail.

3

Oh nice! I will give it a read.

that is so true. And I find it very interesting to try and figure them out when I see them.

4

Hah, this expression just showed up in this week’s Fullmetal Alchemist reading, though the line it’s used in is 手塩にかけて育てた屈強な兵達です

Classic Baader-Meinhof effect.