Hello Blue - what does it mean?

[Yorkie580]

A guy at work greets people by saying "hello blue". He doesn't know where it comes from, just something that a lot of his family say to friends. Soes anyone know the origin of the phrase?

[andy-hughes]

It's an affectionate greeting between Australians - similar to 'Mate' - so it may well have drifted over here from there, a lot of things do like (praise the Lord and pass the cold compress!) Kylie!!!!

[jno]

can't find anything to prove this, but I think 'bluey ' is a name sometimes given to red-headed men (well, obviously...) which makes me suspect that like a lot of Australian terms (eg 'Sheila') it came originally from Ireland.

[Bellringer]

Blue is indeed what Aussies call red heads. But where your friend got it from is anyones guess.

[ruby27]

jno
I read that the term Shelia was a cockney corruption of She Lag. Lag being the term for convicts. Can not say its true for sure but the book I read was a historical account by an Australian. Can not recall authors name. But, there are other references on the net.

[jno]

could be, ruby; there are a lot of Australian etymologies, including 'Prisoner of Mother England' for 'pommy'. They should all be taken with a grain of salt, I suspect. Here's an old Australian comic strip

http://www.oldcmp.net/bluey.html

Curly's the blond; can't see what colour Bluey's hair is, though