Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2018 September 30

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September 30

Sheila

An Irish person just told me that the Irish equivalent of the Australian Sheila is Ashley. I’m wondering what the name would be in various countries. Temerarius (talk) 01:52, 30 September 2018 (UTC)

This Australian person has never heard that claim. HiLo48 (talk) 02:04, 30 September 2018 (UTC)

The Irish version is Sile. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 02:09, 30 September 2018 (UTC)

JackofOz I think you meant to link to Síle since that link goes to the article for a Turkish city. I'll add links to wiktionary and Names of Ireland for more info. MarnetteD|Talk 02:32, 30 September 2018 (UTC)

Thanks. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 03:50, 30 September 2018 (UTC)

What does the OP mean when he/she says "Sheila". Do they mean the equivalent of that particular name or do they mean the slightly disrespectful generic term for a young lady that is/was used in Australia. Richard Avery (talk) 07:25, 30 September 2018 (UTC)

I assumed they meant the latter, but Urban Dictionary doesn't seem to support that notion. Wiktionary has an article on "sheila", but nothing on "ashley". So, if that's what was meant, it's not very widely understood. It would be helpful if Temerarius came back to provide some context. Matt Deres (talk) 12:32, 30 September 2018 (UTC)

(edit conflict) "Ashley" is worse than that [1]. 86.131.233.235 (talk) 13:04, 30 September 2018 (UTC)

sorry, I did mean the idea of A Sheila rather than the name Sheila Temerarius (talk) 13:50, 30 September 2018 (UTC)

So you're saying that the Irish have a concept of "an ashley"? Never heard of it. Irish people, where are you? HiLo48 (talk) 22:19, 30 September 2018 (UTC)

I don't fancy washing my eyes with bleach, so I won't check for myself, but I wonder if this is an Urban Dictionary question. --Dweller (talk) Become old fashioned! 10:08, 4 October 2018 (UTC)

Urban Dictionary is not a reliable source on anything.--WaltCip (talk) 12:13, 4 October 2018 (UTC)

That's true. But I suspect Temerarius isn't looking for a reliable source. --Dweller (talk) Become old fashioned! 12:55, 4 October 2018 (UTC)

Urban Dictionary for an ashley was already linked above. It supports the notion that an ashley could exist although as the IP said, it doesn't really seem to be equivalent to a sheila. However it's entirely unclear where the concept may exist. With only a single entry, it's also fairly difficult to know if it definitely exists as a concept or whoever added it was just mocking someone they knew called Ashley. The 10 up votes and 9 down votes may mean something, or maybe not. The IP's description makes me think they are also familiar with the term, but I'm not certain. Maybe most significantly, as a well known LTA user who geolocate to England, it's doubtful they're reliable for what goes on in Ireland. A look at the entries for simple "ashley" [2] is no more helpful apparently made by (current) partners, friends, admirers, parents and people called Ashley although I admit I only looked at the first page not all 57. The fact that a search doesn't find any real discussion of the term despite taking out confounders like madison etc, even accepting that ashley may be a much more common real name, makes me think even if such a concept exists, it's no where as well known as sheila Nil Einne (talk) 06:57, 5 October 2018 (UTC)

One side of my family has roots in Ireland. Young women in general can be referred to using the name "Colleen" (see for example here). "Colleen" can also be heard used that way often in Irish folk songs such as "Star of the County Down", "Dear Old Donegal", "The Bard of Armagh", "Kitty Magee", etc. I've never heard "Ashley" being used that way.--William Thweatt ^TalkContribs 01:17, 5 October 2018 (UTC)

Except that colleen is an Anglicized word from Irish meaning, roughly, girl - not a name as such. Rmhermen (talk) 14:53, 6 October 2018 (UTC)