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It takes two to tango

  1. Certain activities cannot be performed alone — such as quarreling, making love, and dancing the tango .


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Idioms and Phrases

The active cooperation of both parties is needed for some enterprises, as in We'll never pass this bill unless both parties work out a compromise—it takes two to tango . This expression dates from the 1920s, when the Latin American tango became a very popular dance. It was popularized by the singer Pearl Bailey in her 1952 hit song of that name written by Al Hoffman and Dick Manning.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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