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The idiom which is going to be discussed here in this post is: It takes two to tango so notice the following example to know its meaning:
Mia: There is no need to treat me like that.
Charlotte: You mess up all things yourself and I have no connection with it.
Mia: You can’t be so irresponsible like that. It takes both of us to tango you know!
Charlotte: I have no relationship to your mess.
As you can see from the above example, there was a mess (something bad happened) that Charlotte can’t accept any responsibility for this mess, but Mia says this is related to both of them and she uses the phrase “It takes two to tango“, which is one of the popular English informal idioms.
Idiom #250
It takes two to tango
Meaning:
there are some things you can only do as a couple
Actions or communications need more than one person
To know more about this idiom let’s check the definition of this idiom in some great dictionaries:
It takes two to tango:
Oxford:
Informal – Both parties involved in a situation or argument are equally responsible for it.
Cambridge:
Its said when you want to emphasize that both people involved in a difficult situation must accept the blame, or that an activity needs two people who are willing to take part for it to happen.
Dictionary:
Certain activities cannot be performed alone — such as quarreling, making love, and dancing the tango.
Longman:
Spoken used to say that if a problem involves two people, then both people are equally responsible
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Origin:
Actually, Tango is a Latin American dance and it requires two partners to be performed. It seems to be originated from a 1952 song Takes Two to Tango by Al Hoffman and Dick Manning and then gained such popularity which became a very popular idiom or expression in English.
Meaning which understood from this idiom:
• Actions or communication need more than one person
• Certain actions or activities can’t be performed alone and they need two people
• Both people involved in a situation are equally responsible for any failure or problem related to them
Let’s take a look at some examples of this idiom to understand it better:
• It’s not right to blame him only for this affair – it takes two to tango.
• They blame each other for their argument, but I think it takes two to tango.
• He can’t do this all alone, neither can she– it takes both of them to tango.
• She is so angry with her boyfriend when he left her, but to be honest it takes two to tango.
• If we want to make this deal, we both need to respect our policies since it takes two to tango.
• You can’t blame your neighbor for the problem. It takes two to tango! You are equally responsible.
• They never reach an agreement. Since it takes two to tango so they both need to accept their responsibility.
• The bill will never be passed unless both parties bury their differences and work out a compromise – it takes two to tango.
