Sheila

Male Australian slang for a woman or girl dates from c. 1830. It is not derived, as many suppose, from Sheila as an Irish common or generic name for a woman, in the same sense as Paddy is for Irish men. In fact, Sheila is not a very common Irish name at all and neither was it confined to women. Sheila derives from an old Irish Gaelic word Sile pronounced sheila, which was a derogatory term for a weak, effeminate man. Over time, its use was extended to refer to women in general. To this day, it is generally only used in exclusively male company because Australian women would never refer to themselves as sheilas.