woe is me

An otherwise obsolete use of me in a dative context without a preposition (such as at or on).

Compare the identical German Weh ist mir and Yiddish וויי איז מיר (vey iz mir).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌwəʊ ɪz ˈmiː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌwoʊ ɪz ˈmi/

woe is me

1. (sometimes humorous) Used to show that the speaker feels distress or misery.
   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 266, column 1:

     Blasted with extasie. Oh, woe is me,
     T'haue seene what I haue seene: see what I see.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 120:5:

     Woe is me, that I soiourne in Mesech: that I dwell in the tents of Kedar.