tango [L19th] In Latin tango means ‘I touch’, which would seem to be an appropriate origin for the sensual South American dance the tango, but the word has quite a different origin. It is from Latin American Spanish, and is perhaps ultimately of African origin. It takes two to tango has become a modern-day proverb meaning ‘both parties involved in a situation are equally responsible for it’. It started life as the title of a song written in 1952 by Al Hoffman and Dick Manning.