ish ka bibble

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English

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Etymology

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Borrowing from Yiddish, meaning "I should worry". The origins are disputed. One theory is that it is a corruption of the German nicht gefiedelt ("not flustered"). Another possibility is that it comes from German ich kaan bedibbert ("I am abashed"). Possibly a fake Yiddishism.[1]

Phrase

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ish ka bibble

  1. Why should I worry?; I don't care.
    • 1913, The Santa Fe Magazine - Volume 8, page 74:
      Guess they thought we would crawfish, But there was never a word or a quibble ; When they offered us freights, among others, We said "Let 'em come, ish-ka-bibble."
    • 1914, Steam Machinery: A Magazine of Men, Machinery and Methods:
      Surveying your individual reasons, Nature remarks "Ish ka bibble" in a bored tone and goes on to run the square and the level over the job.
    • 1989, Helen Harris Perlman, The Dancing Clock, and Other Childhood Memories, page 95:
      "Guess I'll do some diving from the raft today," I said, pointedly, to Sonny. "Ish ka bibble," Sonny said.

See also

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References

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