| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name
 | Date | Lines | 
|---|
| 570.1 | how much is that sheila in the window  woof woof | UNTADI::ODIJP | Elefanten springen nie | Wed Oct 12 1988 16:10 | 8 | 
|  |     
    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
 | 
| 570.2 | G'day Bruce! | AYOV27::ISMITH | Considering a move to Memphis | Wed Oct 12 1988 16:26 | 4 | 
|  |     As all Monty Python fans know, Australians are called either Bruce
    or Sheila depending on gender. No other names exist in Oz.
    
    Ian.
 | 
| 570.3 | BLOKE and MATE | ADOMV1::MANDERSON | the wind don't blow..... it sux | Thu Oct 13 1988 01:36 | 6 | 
|  |     others for the male of the species are 'BLOKE' and 'MATE'
    
    regards
    kevin
    
    
 | 
| 570.4 |  | SEEK::HUGHES | Thus thru Windows call on us(Donne) | Thu Oct 13 1988 22:40 | 6 | 
|  |     
>   others for the male of the species are 'BLOKE' and 'MATE'
    
    and 'COBBER'?
    
    Jim
 | 
| 570.5 | Some (more)good oil | LAMHRA::WHORLOW | Living on a rope,tape & a prayer | Fri Oct 14 1988 00:48 | 20 | 
|  |     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
     
 | 
| 570.6 | Sheila origin? | THEONE::PARSONS | So many notes, so little time..... | Mon Oct 17 1988 08:36 | 11 | 
|  |     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::DKEATING | Roamin' Cadillac Church SAVES | Mon Oct 17 1988 13:18 | 13 | 
|  |     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.
 | 
| 570.8 |  | TKOV51::DIAMOND | This note is illegal tender. | Fri Apr 13 1990 06:46 | 4 | 
|  |     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".
 |