Forget Dorothy, I'm a 'friend of Tony'

You've all heard "friend of Dorothy," right? If not, it's a phrase that entered the English lexicon around World War II and has been used ever since as a euphemism for "gay man."

I bring it up because it relates to the Xbox Live gamertag I created shortly after receiving my spiffy new Xbox Live Arcade (and Indie Games) player, er, Xbox 360.

Initially, I wanted my gamertag to be "thegaygamer," but of course that was taken. My next idea was "gay4play," which was taken, too--although "gayforplay" was available. I didn't go with it, though, because I was worried it would be deemed inappropriate and thus banned by the powers that be at Microsoft.

"Littlest Things" by tina-bot

So, I hit my creativity button (it's located on the inside of my right knee, by the way) and came up with "friendoftony"--which combines "friend of Dorothy" with one of my all-time favorite gay game characters, Tony (above) from EarthBound.

Unfortunately, I don't currently have an Xbox Live Gold subscription, so I can't play any of you on line, but that doesn't mean we can't connect. If you're interested, just send a friend request to me at "friendoftony."

See also: 'Say hello to my spiffy new Xbox Live Arcade (and Indie Games) player'