BLOKE refers to a man, a fellow, a guy. Is there a female version thereof? BLAKE BLECK BLICK BLUKE BLYKE?
A woman, a female, a gal? So which sounds better to the ear and please the eye? Blakes and blokes. Blecks and blokes. Blicks and blokes. Blukes and blokes. Blykes and blokes?
There's no female equivalent for "bloke". In Australian working-class culture, some would talk of "blokes and sheilas" or "blokes and girls." If you hear those terms, you can expect the speaker is probably intensely male-chauvinist.
The word "bloke" has positive connotations - "he's a good bloke" - someone you quite like or respect. - "he's a great bloke" - someone you really like or admire, probably know well, probably a friend.
Many of the early convicts were Irish political dissidents. Sheila or Sheelagh was a common Irish woman's name derived from "Síle", believed to be a Gaelic form of Cecilia. So a sheila started out being a convict woman who commanded little or no respect in colonial culture - and later the term was extended to include all women.
Fortunately, not too many Aussies use the word "sheila" often. It's a bit "infra dig," (in for a joke - deserving of ridicule).
This post was edited by inky at June 30, 2019 2:32 AM MDT
Thank you for your thoughtful thorough and informative reply bw. I appreciate it. So bloke for a guy means you like him but Sheila for a gal is disparaging and dismissive! Figgers. I like Aussie lingo. I think it's charming. What I know of it which is not that much. :)
Shuhak 