A situation requiring mutual cooperation or shared responsibility, often used to indicate that both parties are equally involved in a conflict or relationship.
Originates from the Argentine tango dance, which requires two partners to move in perfect coordination. The phrase became popular in the 1950s, particularly after the 1952 song 'Takes Two to Tango' by Al Hoffman and Dick Manning.
While most people use this phrase to assign blame equally in conflicts, it originally celebrated the beautiful harmony possible when two people work together perfectly. The tango itself was once considered scandalous because of how intimately the partners had to cooperate!
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