Word Origins

Bloke.

Great word, but where did it come from?

mariner2 Mon 11/02/08 22:28

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Whickerman
Mon 11/02/08
22:30

It's from Irish Traveller (a type of Gypsy)dialect. (heard that on the radio today, from the writer of this book:
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=uPo0oB1 9gDUC&dq=hiberno+irish+dictionary&printsec=fro ntcover&source=web&ots=NHd23jybyW&sig=bjU7eW7p uRu8RC7SGro_4ArcbDc )

Quizmonster
Tue 12/02/08
07:00

According to The Oxford English Dictionary, the origin is unknown. However, it points out that one etymologist suggested it might have come from a gypsy word, 'loke', meaning a man. Obviously, the editors of the dictionary were not sufficiently convinced.
Chambers DIctionary takes the same view, so I would be wary of any suggestion that the origin is clear.

Rooboru
Wed 12/03/08
07:32

It came from a bloke who used to live just the other side of the black stump in Australia many many moons ago......
Pretty safe bet he's gone by now... the poor bloke......

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