“Toma Tomate, Tómalo” Meaning: The Spanish Hand-Slapping Game

Hola! I’m Mónica, a Spanish teacher from Madrid. If you’ve heard a group of Spaniards suddenly chanting toma tomate, tómalo and slapping each other’s hands, don’t worry, nobody is fighting. It’s one of our favourite childhood games, and grown-ups still play it at parties. Here’s what it means, how to play it, and the useful Spanish hiding inside it.

What “toma tomate, tómalo” means, word by word

Spanish	Literal meaning
Toma	Take! (command, from tomar)
Tomate	Tomato
Tómalo	Take it!
Ia, ia, oh	Nothing. Just rhythm.
¡Plof!	The “slap” sound, like “splat!”

So why a tomato? Because toma and tomate sound great together. Spanish kids’ rhymes care about rhythm, not logic.

How to play the “toma tomate” game

1. Everyone stands or sits in a circle.
2. Put your hands out, palms up. Your right hand goes on top of your neighbour’s left hand.
3. Start the chant: toma tomate, tómalo, ia ia oh… On each beat, you slap the hand of the person next to you, and the slap travels around the circle.
4. On the final ¡plof!, the person about to get slapped tries to pull their hand away in time.
5. If they get slapped, they’re out. If they escape, the one who missed is out. (Rules change a little from school to school, and every Spaniard will tell you theirs is the right one.)

Warning from experience: it starts as a cute kids’ game and ends with very red hands.

The useful Spanish hiding in this song

Tómate vs tomate: one accent, two meanings

This is a great one for learners:

• tomate (no accent) = tomato.
• tómate (with accent) = take / have (for yourself): Tómate un café = have a coffee. Tómate tu tiempo = take your time.

Same letters, different stress, different meaning. And tómalo needs the accent too, because adding lo moves the stress: toma → tómalo.

“¡Toma!” is also slang

Expression	Meaning	Example
¡Toma!	Here you go! / Wow! / Take that!	¡Toma! Aquí tienes las llaves.
¡Toma ya!	Yes! / In your face! (celebrating)	¡Toma ya! ¡Hemos ganado!
¡Toma castaña!	Take that! (Spain, a bit old-school)	Y le contestó: “¡Toma castaña!”
Toma y daca	Give and take, tit for tat	Una relación es un toma y daca.

Tomato expressions in Spain

Expression	Meaning
Ponerse como un tomate	To go bright red, to blush
¡Hay tomate!	There’s drama / gossip / trouble
Tener un tomate (en el calcetín)	To have a hole in your sock
La Tomatina	The giant tomato fight in Buñol (Valencia), every August

Yes, in Spain a hole in your sock is a “tomato”. Nobody knows exactly why, and we don’t question it.

Other Spanish playground songs you might hear

• “En la calle veinticuatro”: a hand-clapping and skipping rhyme. (Need the number? Here’s how numbers 20 to 29 work in Spanish.)
• “Pito, pito, gorgorito”: the Spanish “eeny, meeny, miny, moe”, used to choose who’s “it”.
• “Antón Pirulero”: a circle game where everyone mimes a job and you have to remember yours.

More real Spanish from Spain: what “eres la leche” means, 20 Madrid slang words and what “estar sobao” means.

Want more? Here are 18 Spanish expressions from Spain that locals use every day.

FAQ

What does “tómalo” mean in English?

“Take it”. Toma (take) + lo (it).

Is “toma tomate” a real song?

It’s a traditional playground chant, not a pop song. Nobody really knows who invented it. Spanish kids learn it from each other at school and summer camps.

What’s the difference between “tomate” and “tómate”?

Tomate is the tomato. Tómate is a command: “take” or “have” (something for yourself), as in tómate un vaso de agua.

This is the Spanish no textbook teaches you

Songs, games, slang, the things every Spaniard grew up with: that’s what makes you understand real conversations. Download my free guide with 100 real Spanish phrases above, and if you want to know what’s stopping you from speaking, book your Spanish Speaking Roadmap call below.

— Monica Bernabe Perez

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