[Idiom] Take His Jokes/Advice To Heart

[CaseyA]

I have some confusion about "take something to heart."

#1. She took his jokes to heart.

#2. She took his advice to heart.

#1 means she was offended by his jokes. #2 means she took his advice seriously. Am I wrong?

 

[emsr2d2]

I have some confusion about "take something to heart."



#1 means she was offended by his jokes. #2 means she took his advice seriously. Am I wrong?

You're right. In the first, she has taken them personally, and probably found them offensive to her personally as well. In the second, his advice really meant something to her and she took it seriously.

 

[CaseyA]

Given the two uses of "take something to heart", would the following be ambiguous?

She took his words to heart.

Could one normal native reader interpret it to mean "She was offended by his words." and another normal native reader interpret it to mean "She accepted his advice and would act on it."?

 

[5jj]

It's possible. It would depend on the context.