bloke

[overdale]

Were does the meaning of the word 'bloke' come from.

[shaneystar2]

Bloke, which means a man or fellow is first recorded in England in the 1820s. It first appeared in a glossary by the late 1830s, spelled "bloak" and defined as "a gentleman.
It was even used in America at one time.Mark Twain used it: "I made up my mind to be a square bloke," he wrote in Life on the Mississippi. It is now rare in America and is usually regarded as a typical Briticism.

The actual origin of bloke is uncertain. It is sometimes attributed to Shelta, a private language, derived in part from Irish Gaelic, spoken by the travelling people in Ireland.

[Count_Emmup]

I read somewhere it came from "Bloek" - Anglo Saxon for man, don't recall my source though.