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Comment by ekTHEN | Hacker News Reader

can you explain what exactly you mean by "mensch" or which character traits are being associated with it? as a non-native english speaker i have never seen it used and just know it as the german word for "human"

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It's a Yiddish word מענטש, means honorable or admirable person

It's a German word meaning man and in the Yiddish use has the connotation of honorable man?

Yes. It's a compliment in Yiddish.

It's kind of like saying someone is "the man" in English.

Worth noting that "the man" may instead mean police/government/etc, usually with negative connotations. So context may make this less appropriate as a synonym than "righteous dude" as mentioned above.

That's "the Man". :)

Capitalization is very important here! Also, e.g. if you are helping your uncle Jack off a horse, etc.

I think it's closer to "stand-up" or "decent" than honorable, but yes.

(The neutral version would be מאַן, which literally means man or husband.)

what's that phonetically?

I believe it's pronounced very similar to the English word "man" (with the vowel being a little farther back. Halfway to "mon" as in "pokemon")

Yep, that’s correct. It’s a long a, similar to ā in Latin.

Umm... מאָן means poppyseed in Yiddish (and Purim is around the corner, which means המן־טאַשן with מאָן filling!)

I wrote מאַן, not מאָן :-).

(For those wondering: “man” in Yiddish looks a lot like “mohn”, which is the same as German mohn.)

I think it goes well beyond honorable, it also means likeable, friendly and easygoing.

american slang : righteous dude

Username checks out. Your comment really does tie the thread together.

It does not connote those extra attributes. It means someone with integrity and honor, who always does the right thing. A mensch is someone you can count on. It is a very high compliment to give someone. But I've definitely known some disagreeable mensches.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mensch

Jewish, not of German ancestry, but I've had a lot Yiddish spoken around me.

The German word for man is der Mann. Der Mensch is a human/person. And yes, in Yiddish it has strong positive connotations, which have carried over into the (American, at least) loanword.

yeah person is more accurate. I wonder what the etymology of Mensch is, Lohnwort from Latin, long evolved, like Muenze? Umlaut applied to a derivative of Mann with an i involved, also long enough evolved the spelling simplified?

I no longer have my German language dictionary(-ies) or Duden books nor access to such where I am, sadly.

There’s a brief etymology in Etymonline: https://www.etymonline.com/word/mensch

Obviously a close cognate, but not really the same word.

from Oxford:

"a person of integrity and honor"

Watch the movie "The Apartment" (1960) for a crash course in mensches.

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