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I could be way off base but I feel like this might possibly be an early version or a play on the phrase “I should worry”, a sarcastic slangy saying that was based off a Yiddish saying, either “nisch gefiddellt” or “isch ka bibble?” (I should worry?). Apparently, according to German Jews at the time, “nisch gefiddellt” was the actually phrase and “isch ka bibble” was more likely gibberish or a corruption of the original. “We should..” and “I should..” and “You should..” phrases were everywhere.
The saying really blew up in 1913 when a popular song by the name Isch Ga Bibble was released.
Evansville Press, Indiana, June 28, 1913:
Eventually it became “what, me worry?” which is well known as the catchphrase of Mad Magazine’s Alfred E. Neuman.
Ah hah! Here we go, anyway. From
A Dictionary of
Slang, Jargon & Cant Embracing English, American, and Anglo-Indian
Slang, Pidgin English, Tinkers’ Jargon and Other Irregular Phraseology, published 1889:
High-res
