it takes two to tango
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Both share responsibility.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
I should point out that in one of the features of adhesions is that it takes two to tango, so to speak!
It takes two to tango, however, and I suspect we'll still be here tomorrow discussing it. '
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “it takes two to tango” mean?
Both share responsibility.
Is “it takes two to tango” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.