This article is about the Yiddish word. For the album by Herbert Grönemeyer, see
Mensch (album).
Mensch (Yiddish מענטש; also mentsch, mentsh, mensh, or mench, plural:
mentschen, German plural: Menschen) is a German noun meaning a
"human".
In Yiddish (from which the word has migrated into American English), mensch roughly means "a good person." A "mensch" is a particularly good
person, like "a stand-up guy," a person with the qualities one would hope for in a dear friend or trusted colleague. According to
author and Yiddish popularist Leo Rosten,
[A] mensch is someone to admire and emulate, someone of noble character. The key to being "a real mensch" is nothing less than
character, rectitude, dignity, a sense of what is right, responsible, decorous. (Rosten, Leo. 1968. The Joys of Yiddish. New York: Pocket Books. 237)
Mentschlekhkeyt (Yiddish: מענטשלעכקייט) are the properties which make one a mensch.
The correct German spellings are Mensch (singular, meaning (non-judgmental)
human or man), Menschen (for the plural and for the singular
accusative) and Menschlichkeit ("humanity").
In Modern Israeli Hebrew, the phrase Ben Adam is used as an exact translation
of Mensch. Though it usually means simply "a person" in general, it is used to mean "a nice guy" in the same way as
mensch.
The direct opposite of a Mensch is an Unmensch (meaning: an utterly cruel or evil person).
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