Many people like the tango dance and enjoy to tango as well.
But you cannot tango alone, you need a partner to dance with you or this dance makes no sense at all.

So whenever an event happens involving (at least) two sides, be it a quarrel, an argument or a fight, peole might say "it takes two to tango." This means if either of the sides is not involved in any way, the event won't happen at all.

This proverb is oftentimes miswritten as "it takes two to tangle" as tango and tangle sound very much alike.

Tim

"It takes two to tangle" might not have been a mis-written one, but intentionally said in a way to imitate the tone of the titled proverb and express a different meaning. It takes two to get tangled with each other in a competition.

The following link is an article "It takes two to tangle" written by BRAD GRIMES.
http://www.washingtontechnology.com/news/18_23/cover-stories/22892-1.html


It takes two to tango. The Chinese translation can be:
1) 一個巴掌拍不響.
2) 有需求才有供給. → 有觀眾才有舞台 or 有嫖客才有娼妓.

We have no way to cope with intentional use of language or word play. But that's part of the beauty of language. And it's also this kind of freedom that we can see many well-written pieces.

It takes two to tangle is also an episode name of the TV sitcom Frasier.

Tim

Another imitation of this proverb is Cisco's slogan:
"It takes two to twingo."

http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=49215

Yep, language is beautiful.

Glot,
I think that's why languages are difficult.
Lynn