It takes two to tango...

Posted by David FG on June 10, 2005

In Reply to: It takes two to tango... posted by Bob on June 10, 2005

: : It takes two to tango? What does it means and why the word tango?

: For those of us who remember songs from 1952...

: Takes Two To Tango

:
: Takes two to tango two to tango
: Two to really get the feeling of romance
: Let's do the tango do the tango do the dance of love

: You can sail on a ship by yourself
: Take a nap or nip by yourself
: You can get into debt on your own
: There are lots of things that you can do alone

: But takes two to tango two to tango
: Two to really get the feeling of romance
: Let's do the tango do the tango do the dance of love

: You can croon to the moon by yourself
: Well you can laugh like a loon by yourself
: Spend a lot go to pot on your own
: There are a lot of things that you can do alone

: But takes two to tango two to tango
: Two to really get the feeling of romance
: Let's do the tango do the tango do the dance of love
: Takes two takes two
: Darling it always takes two
: To tango

Literally, it is of course, true. It DOES take two to tango. By extension, it is used to suggest that a person accused (or guilty) of something did not act alone. An example might be:

Qu. 'You know that X is an adulterer?'

Ans. 'Yes, but it takes two to tango.'

Why tango? I suspect euphony. It sounds better than (for instance) 'it takes two to waltz' (even though it does).

DFG