A little inflation is described as nibbling away at which measure, helping it decline if necessary?

1. Inflation can move a variable that is hard to move directly. 2. Nominal wages are difficult to cut outright. 3. A little inflation could nibble away at real wages. 4. It thus helps real wages to decline if necessary. _Source: OpenStax Principles of Macroeconomics for AP Courses 2e (CC BY 4.0), Ch 8 'Inflation'_