friend of Dorothy"

[Garson O'Toole]

The OED has this phrase. I did not see it in the HDAS listed under
Dorothy or friend. The first OED citation given in 1972 does not
contain the phrase.

Dorothy, n.
a friend of Dorothy (slang), a homosexual man. Also in similar allusive uses.

1972  B. Rodgers Queens' Vernacular 66   Dorothy and Toto,‥any male
couple whose effeminate partner is in command. ‘When's Dorothy and
Toto getting here with the chest of drawers?’

1984  B. McConville & J. Shearlaw Slanguage of Sex (1985) 82/1
Dorothy's friends, the male gay community, from the 50s onwards.


The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional
English (Google Books preview)
friend of Dorothy noun a homosexual. Thought to be from the Judy
Garland character in The Wizard of Oz; Garland is a gay icon
AUSTRALIA, 1988


Cassell's Dictionary of Slang by Jonathon Green (Google Books preview)
Friend of Oscar n. [1920s+] a male homosexual (df. ABIGAIL n.) (the
gay icon, playwright Oscar Wilde (1854-1901)]

Cassell's has an entry for "Dorothy's friend" but display is blocked
in Google Books.

One book claims that the construction of the term "Friend of Dorothy"
was influenced by the term "Friend of Bill" used by Alcoholics
Anonymous (founded in 1935), but if Cassell's is correct then perhaps
"Friend of Oscar" influenced both "Friend of Bill" and "Friend of
Dorothy".

On Tue, Mar 22, 2011 at 9:24 AM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
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> Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Â  Â  Â  Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Â  Â  Â Re: friend of Dorothy"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Prominent author, too.
>
> JL
>
> On Tue, Mar 22, 2011 at 8:50 AM, crawford <neil at typog.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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>> Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster: Â  Â  Â  crawford <neil at TYPOG.CO.UK>
>> Subject: Â  Â  Â friend of Dorothy"
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> 'Schuyler could not recall seeing his young blond friend at any of the
>> masses before tonight, but often there was wholesale confusion and
>> resultant
>> obscurity. In any case, here he was now, the young friend of a friend of
>> Dorothy, perhaps homosexual himself...'
>> ~Ed McBain, 'Vespers: a novel of the 87th Precinct', William Morrow, 1990,
>> 144
>>
>> neil at typog.co.uk
>>
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>
>
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