Ish Kabibble

I come from a long line nicknamers. Everyone in my family has a nickname. My mom stayed with us for a week and for some reason, unbeknownst to us all, started calling Thom (a.k.a. The rodent, a.k.a. Mr. Bean, a.k.a. Tommy B) Iscabibble.


Me: "Mom, what's up with that name? Where's it from?"
Mom: "What? Iscabibble? Oh, I don't know. Grandpa called him that last time you were out."
Me: "Well, like, where is it from? It sounds Jewish."
Mom: "You know Grandpa, he has all kinds of names for everyone. Fits him though, don't ya think?"

Well, actually, it kind of does.

But I really did want to know where the name came from, so I did a little sleuth work online. It turns out the name "Ish Kabibble" shows up here and there throughout time, in children's books and music. I think, however, that it is most likely that my grandpa heard the name on the radio.

Ish Kabibble was the nickname or stage name of Merwyn Bogue (born 1908), a comedic singer and trumpet player for Kay Kyser's swing band on a radio show in the 1930s.

I also read on one website that “ish kabibble” is Yiddish for “I should worry?”

I was able to snap a few jewelry pics when the sun finally came out yesterday, right before it went down.