What does 'put two and two together' mean?

Hey, everyone

Long time no see! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season with your family and friends.

For all of those who are here for the first time let me tell you something before I start writing this post. I always choose a pun (trocadilho) to write about and explain the expression through the pun. I have an awful lot of them here. You can search for some expressions you would like to know about and see if I have them. And if I don't just let me know. Maybe I can come up with something.

Let's get down to work!

"The inventor of the ballet skirt was struggling for a name. Until he finally put tu and tu together."

What does 'put tu and tu together' mean? Well, to be honest I just knew put two and two together. So let me explain.

According to Macmillan dictionary put two and two together means: to guess what is happening or what something means as a result of what you have seen or heard. [juntar/ligar os fatos, chegar a uma conclusão, tirar suas próprias conclusões]

Ok, but what about that tu and tu? That's where the pun is. Tutu is that kind of skirt ballerinas wear. (see the picture above)
When the inventor connected tu and tu he formed the word tutu and named the skirt or he came to a conclusion (put two and two together) about the name after thinking long and hard.

Some examples:

How did you know they were having an affair? I'd seen them out together a couple of times so I put two and two together.
She heard that there had been an accident and she put two and two together.
It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together.

And now a funny quote

"The problem with putting two and two together is that sometimes you get four, and sometimes you get twenty-two." Dashiell Hammett

What do you think he meant by that phrase?

That's all for today. Hope you like it.