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Usenet Posted 16 years ago
Usage

Getting Dorothy on You

We were watching the BBC version of "Life On Mars" last night and Sam told The Guv something, adding that he wasn't "getting Dorothy on you." The implication was that he wasn't being sentimental or soft or touchy-feely in what he was suggesting, it was a practical suggestion. For those of you who never saw this TV show, it's set in Manchester, U.K., in 1973.
I've never heard the term "getting Dorothy on you" before. Is this a common British term or was it back in 1973? Is it derived from Dorothy of Oz fame or just a general femal name to connote a less than manly attitude?
Paul
  

Top answer

[nq:1]We were watching the BBC version of "Life On Mars" last night and Sam told The Guv something, adding that ... [/nq] It's completely new to me. I lived in Manchester from 1959 to 1972.

  • [nq:1]We were watching the BBC version of "Life On Mars" last night and Sam told The Guv something, adding that ...
  • [/nq] It's completely new to me.
  • I lived in Manchester from 1959 to 1972.
  • I wonder whether this from the OED might be relevant: Dorothy, n.
  • a friend of Dorothy (slang), a homosexual man.
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3 Answers
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[nq:1]We were watching the BBC version of "Life On Mars" last night and Sam told The Guv something, adding that ... it derived from Dorothy of Oz fame or just a general femal name to connote a less than manly attitude?[/nq]
It's completely new to me. I lived in Manchester from 1959 to 1972.

I wonder whether this from the OED might be relevant:

Dorothy, n.
a friend of Doro
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[nq:2]We were watching the BBC version of "Life On Mars" ... general femal name to connote a less than manly attitude?[/nq]
[nq:1]It's completely new to me. I lived in Manchester from 1959 to 1972. I wonder whether this from the OED might be relevant: Dorothy, n. a friend of Dorothy (slang), a homosexual man. Also in similar allusive uses.[/nq]
That's immediately what came to mind for me t
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[nq:1]On 05 May 2010, Peter Duncanson (BrE) wrote[/nq]
[nq:2]It's completely new to me. I lived in Manchester from ... Dorothy (slang), a homosexual man. Also in similar allusive uses.[/nq]
[nq:1]That's immediately what came to mind for me the Judy Garland/Dorothy gay expression of "a friend of Dorothy's". It's ... that it's some sort of rhyming slang, but I don't have the foggiest as to w

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