friend of Dorothy
2
9.9
- noun
- Archaic
:
amigo de Dorothy
- In the 1970s, being a friend of Dorothy was a way for gay men to connect discreetly.
Examples
-
MARIA (Chach): OK... OK... friend of Dorothy... but a good friend, or only a friend?
Blog text (21) -
Many people in the community identify as a friend of Dorothy to express their support for LGBT rights.
-
Do you not want to be a good friend of Dorothy? ...
Blog text (21) -
And I guess you could call me a "friend of Dorothy."
Blog text (21) -
That means he's a friend of Dorothy.
-
Sprousefreak: Google "friend of Dorothy"
Blog text (21) -
There was a sprinkling of single men, what Tommy in his rare candid moments used to jokingly refer to as "friends of Dorothy."
Fiction book (1994) -
Both have to decide what to do about the kind of conversations and attitudes taking place all around them. Do they participate heartily in verbal fag bashing, chuckle, and move on, or defend those not present, in effect coming out as friends to friends of Dorothy?
Blog text (20) -
He proudly identifies as a friend of Dorothy and often participates in pride parades.
Synonyms
140
4.1
A person who is sexually attracted to people of the same sex
67
2.7
A man who is attracted to other men
Surface Forms
Morphology
friend + of + Dorothy
This phrase is an idiomatic euphemism whose meaning ('a gay man') depends on cultural and historical reference (e.g., Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz/Dorothy Parker) rather than the literal meanings of 'friend' and the proper name 'Dorothy'. A B1 learner who knows the constituent words but has not encountered the cultural reference would not be able to derive the homosexual sense, so the expression is unpredictable and culturally specific.
Etymology
The expression friend of Dorothy comes from the character Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz and from the actress Judy Garland, who was very popular with gay men. So people used friend of Dorothy as a quiet way to say someone was 'gay'.