it takes two to tango

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

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

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.

Translations

some things need the active cooperation of two parties

• Arabic: انها رقصة التانغو تتطلب شخصين (ar)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 一个巴掌拍不响 (cmn)

• Danish: der skal to til tango (da)
• Finnish: tangoon tarvitaan kaksi

• French: il faut être deux pour danser le tango (fr)
• Norwegian: det trengs 2 til tango (no)
• Polish: do tanga trzeba dwojga (pl)
• Russian: для танго нужны двое (ru) (dlja tángo nyžný dvóje)

Related terms

• tango

References

• Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, 1996, ISBN 0-679-44554-4, p. 174.