It Takes Two to Tango

Unusually precisely dated for an idiom. The Latin American tango itself became internationally popular in the 1920s, and the obvious observation that the dance requires two willing partners was already circulating as slang by the following decade. The exact modern phrase, though, comes from a specific 1952 song, "Takes Two to Tango," written by Al Hoffman and Dick Manning and popularised through singer Pearl Bailey's recording that same year. An older, related proverb, "it always takes two to make a bargain," appears in English as far back as 1579.