it takes two to tango

English

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it takes two to tango

Wikipedia

Etymology

From the song Takes Two to Tango, written and composed in 1952 by Al Hoffman and Dick Manning.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Proverb

it takes two to tango

1. (idiomatic) Some things need the active cooperation of two parties; blame is to be laid on both parties in a conflict.

   I can't do it by myself, and neither can you – it takes two to tango.

   He started it! Well, it takes two to tango.

Derived terms

• it takes two to tangle

Related terms

• tango

Translations

some things need the active cooperation of two parties

Arabic: انها رقصَة التانغو تتطلب شخصين Egyptian Arabic: ايد لوحدها ماتسقفش Chinese: Mandarin: 一個巴掌拍不響 / 一个巴掌拍不响 (zh) (yī ge bāzhang pāi bù xiǎng) Danish: der skal to til tango Finnish: tanssiin tarvitaan aina kaksi; kukaan ei riitele yksinään, kukaan ei tappele yksinään (about fights or conflicts) French: il faut être deux pour danser le tango (rare) Hungarian: kettőn áll a vásár Japanese: 喧嘩両成敗 (けんかりょうせいばい, kenka ryōseibai) Norwegian: det trengs 2 til tango Polish: do tanga trzeba dwojga Portuguese: não se faz nada sozinho Russian: для та́нго нужны́ дво́е (dlja tángo nužný dvóje) Spanish: dos no discuten si uno no quiere Swedish: det är inte ens fel om två träter (regarding conflicts)

blame is to be laid on both parties in a conflict — see it takes two to tangle

References

• Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, 1996, →ISBN, p. 174.