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Conference thebay::joyoflex

Title:The Joy of Lex
Notice:A Notes File even your grammar could love
Moderator:THEBAY::SYSTEM
Created:Fri Feb 28 1986
Last Modified:Mon Jun 02 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1192
Total number of notes:42769

570.0. "... A rose by any other name ..." by CSSE::CIUFFINI (God must be a Gemini...) Wed Oct 12 1988 16:49

    

    After watching a number of Aussie movies recently ( Shame, 
    Croc Dundee and last evening's CBS OUTback whatever) I am
    wondering about the origin of the term Sheila? Sheela? Schela?
    used by (them) Aussies to indicate a (pick one : female, woman ).
    
    And, is there a comparative 'term' for the men?
    
    Thanks
    jc ( who likes Australian scenery )
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570.1how much is that sheila in the window woof woofUNTADI::ODIJPElefanten springen nieWed Oct 12 1988 17:108
    
    I'm not an Australian myself , but I have it on good authority from
    some 'sheila' friends that it is actually a term for a dog , and
    is impolitely but unoffensively used for women in general .
    
    Why they call a dog 'sheila' is another question entirely .
    
    John J
570.2G'day Bruce!AYOV27::ISMITHConsidering a move to MemphisWed Oct 12 1988 17:264
    As all Monty Python fans know, Australians are called either Bruce
    or Sheila depending on gender. No other names exist in Oz.
    
    Ian.
570.3BLOKE and MATEADOMV1::MANDERSONthe wind don't blow..... it suxThu Oct 13 1988 02:366
    others for the male of the species are 'BLOKE' and 'MATE'
    
    regards
    kevin
    
    
570.4SEEK::HUGHESThus thru Windows call on us(Donne)Thu Oct 13 1988 23:406
    
>   others for the male of the species are 'BLOKE' and 'MATE'
    
    and 'COBBER'?
    
    Jim
570.5Some (more)good oilLAMHRA::WHORLOWLiving on a rope,tape & a prayerFri Oct 14 1988 01:4820
    G'day,
    
    
    Yair, thoug 'casionally a sheila 'l make a good cobber - tho anly
    if'n she can take her grog (an not mine!). Very 'casionally a sheila'l
    make a good bloke but not offen.
    
    'Spect the ref to sheila as a dog is soem now forgotten rhyming
    slang  sheila fogg = dog or somesuch named after a some female that
    was good at rounding up sheep :-)
    
    Intresting tuh note (aint it?) that a species of poor, often stunted
    tree found in the outback aways is called a 'she-oak' cos it aint
    much use to a feller, cos it dont get hot  enough to be useful :-):-)
    
    Oh my, what a male oriented society it is here!
    
    
    derek
     
570.6Sheila origin?THEONE::PARSONSSo many notes, so little time.....Mon Oct 17 1988 09:3611
    There's a lot of Irish in early Australia, and "sheila" (now only
    rarely used) could have come from there. Can any Irish noters shed
    any light on this? Similar usage there perhaps? Or maybe the first
    female convicts here were mostly Irish and usually named Sheila?
                           Regards.............Bruce
    
    BTW  Male equivalent is "bloke" and is still fairly common, "mate"
    is commonly used when addressing someone directly, but of course
    American influence (no comment) has caused "guy" to become widely
    used (both sexes), hence my name change!    :-)
                                                                    
570.7 Irish Eyes and Smileys :-)GAOV08::DKEATINGRoamin' Cadillac Church SAVESMon Oct 17 1988 14:1813
    Irish connections...um!!! Maybe....it used to be a common name
    for females but not as much nowadays. Parents now like to copy
    their favourite TV soap etc...so ye get names like Tara,Sinead,
    Dawn etc. I have a feeling that 'Sheila' might have evolved from
    an old song or ballad featuring the above named *lady* (can't
    remember any such song though!!!)
    
    As for similar usage here in Ireland...well NOT really. Usually
    it's 'Yer Wan' for females and 'Yer Man' for males...sometimes
    you may get 'The Queer Wan'(females) and 'The Queer Fella'(males)
    !!!! but don't worry about that....it's all in good *fun* ;-)
    
    - Dave Keating.
570.8TKOV51::DIAMONDThis note is illegal tender.Fri Apr 13 1990 07:464
    You didn't know that the Australian language is half French,
    did you?  The term for "that there female", i.e. "she-la",
    has been corrupted only slightly through the ages.  The male
    equivalent, "he-le", has been corrupted to "heel".