Mensch
Mensch (
According to 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."[2] The term is used as a high compliment, implying the rarity and value of that individual's qualities.
Overview
In Yiddish, mentsh roughly means "a good person".[3] The word has migrated as a loanword into American English, where a mensch is a particularly good person, similar to a "stand-up guy", a person with the qualities one would hope for in a friend or trusted colleague.[4] Mentshlekhkeyt (Yiddish: מענטשלעכקייט; German: Menschlichkeit) refers to the properties which make a person a mensch.
During the Age of Enlightenment, in Germany the term Humanität, in the philosophical sense of compassion, was used in Humanism to describe what characterizes a better human being. The concept goes back to Cicero's humanitas, which was literally translated as Menschlichkeit in German, from which the Yiddish word mentsh derives.[citation needed].
The word Mensch and the underlying concept have had an impact on popular culture. For example, the "
See also
- Gutmensch
- Kalos kagathos
- Moral idealist
- Übermensch
- Untermensch
References
- ^ "mensch." Merriam-Webster.
- ^ The Joys of Yiddish, p. 240
- ^ "Israel's Mensch on the Bench mascot at World Baseball Classic." Newsday.
- ^ Modern Philology
- ^ Gloster, Rob (7 March 2017). "Team Israel scores another surprise baseball win – with a Marin pitcher". J. The Jewish News of Northern California. Retrieved 12 June 2022.