タンゴは１人では踊れない (It takes two to tango.)

数にちなむ単語・表現として、前回は first-generation を機械的に「一世」と訳していいのかについて考えたが、「１」の次は「２」、ということで "It takes two to tango." という言い回しを取り上げてみたい。この表現も、私が最初に字面から想像したのとは少し異なるニュアンスを持っていたからだ。

この表現を知ったのはその昔の学生時代、ソビエト連邦との軍縮をめぐってレーガン大統領が使っていたことによる。

- The President went on, "For ten years, detente was based on words from them and not on any deeds to back those words up." Said he, "It takes two to tango," and the U.S. needs some sign "that they want to tango also."
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,955057-4,00.html

- "It takes two to tango." That is how Ronald Reagan once described the condition necessary for cooperation with the Soviet Union. The tango is just the right metaphor for diplomacy. It is performed in the formal setting of a ballroom, to the vigorous but stately measure of 4/4 time, with a good deal of melodramatic posturing and a great variety of steps. But for the past few years, any kind of dance has been just the wrong metaphor for Soviet-American relations.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,926120,00.html

最初にこの表現を見た時は、何かをするには１人ではできない、というような意味だろうと考えた。英英辞典にも、次のような説明がある。

- some things need the active cooperation of two parties
- Certain activities cannot be performed alone -- such as quarreling, making love, and dancing the tango.

しかしその後、「責任は双方にある」「片方に責任があるのではない」と英和辞典に書かれているのを見つけた。こういう意味にもなるのだと知った。

ネットを見ると、

- something that you say which means if two people were involved in a bad situation, both must be responsible

- ...Literally, it is of course, true. It DOES take two to tango. By extension, it is used to suggest that a person accused (or guilty) of something did not act alone.
http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/41/messages/1014.html

- "It takes two to tango" means that two people in a fight are both responsible for that fight. Example: "He hit me first; it wasn't my fault!" Answer: "It takes two to tango." (中略）
A conflict is not the fault of just one person or the other; they are often both to blame, because it takes two to tango.
http://www.goenglish.com/ItTakesTwoToTango.asp

ついでに、"Two wrongs don't make a right." あるいは "Two blacks don't make a white." という表現もある。「他人が悪いことをしているからといって、自分もそうしていいということにはならない」、また、「悪いことをされたからといって自分もやりかえしていいことにはならない」という意味だという。

- (proverb) the fact that someone has done something unjust or dishonest is no justification for acting in a similar way.

- "Two wrongs don't make a right" means that it is never right to wrong someone, even if they have wronged you first. Their "wrong" plus your "wrong" together would not make a "right." Example: "That boy pushed me yesterday and I am going to get him back today!" Answer: "No you are not! Two wrongs do not make a right."

面白いのは、これとは逆の "Two wrongs make a right" があり、次の サイトのような説明があった。

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_wrongs_make_a_right
http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/two-wrongs-make-a-right.html

タグ：-数にちなんだ表現 アメリカ政治 レーガン

コメント 1

はじめまして。
この記事、参考になりました。
ありがとうございます。
by chitoron (2008-06-17 09:44)