tomar a broma
verbCEFR B1
What does “tomar a broma” mean in English?
to treat as a joke, to laugh off
to treat as a joke, to laugh off (tomar a broma + direct object — note: a, not en)
Example sentences
Me molesta mucho que siempre tome a broma todo lo que le digo; cuando algo es importante, necesito que me escuche de verdad.
It really bothers me that he always treats everything I say as a joke; when something is important, I need him to actually listen to me.
Al principio tomé a broma sus comentarios sobre el trabajo, pero con el tiempo me di cuenta de que estaba siendo muy crítica conmigo.
At first I laughed off her comments about work, but over time I realised she was being very critical of me.
No deberías tomar a broma lo que dijo el doctor; por más que sea molesto escucharlo, es un consejo importante.
You shouldn't laugh off what the doctor said; as annoying as it is to hear it, it is important advice.
How to use it
Tomar a broma means 'to treat as a joke', 'not to take seriously', or 'to laugh off'. It is the idiomatic opposite of tomar en serio. Structure: tomar a broma + noun/pronoun. Note the preposition is a, not en. It appears in contexts of interpersonal frustration when someone fails to take something seriously. The noun broma means 'joke', so the literal reading is 'to take as a joke'. The phrase is most common in negative or contrastive contexts: no puedo creer que lo tome a broma.
Common mistake
The preposition trap: tomar en serio uses en, tomar a broma uses a. These are fixed idioms — neither preposition can be swapped. Also: broma is feminine but does not need an article in this idiom: 'tomar a broma' not '*tomar a la broma'.