Thread: Mensch Man!

Gentlemen:

You are correct. Mensch means "a human being," "a good person." In the movie "The Apartment," the Jewish doctor who criticizes Jack Lemon for boozing and womanizing, says, "Be a mensch."

Regards,

Obie

Originally Posted by commiecat

Soylent grün ist Menschenfleisch!

Someone is showing their age!

Great film that needs to be recycled!

Originally Posted by Bladerunner

Someone is showing their age!

The movie is older than I am. I know the German line from music samples.

Originally Posted by Bladerunner

Great film that needs to be recycled!

Well played, sir!

Mensch is German and means human. There's no other meaning behind that word. It can be used as an exclamation in the same way you'd say "Man!" in English.


Wenn ihr halt mal einen Deutsch Kurs oder sowas in der Richtung machen würdet, hättet ihr alle keine Probleme, dies innerhalb eines Augenzwinkers auszumachen. Naja, selbst Schuld, wenn man kein Deutsch kann ;-)


Es grüsst herzlich aus der deutschsprachigen Schweiz

sinizzl

Originally Posted by LarryAndro

The other day someone called me a mensch. It was in a positive context, and so, of course my vanity wanted to know more details. I asked my wife, she looked it up and read... "elongated anal cavity."

Yikes!

I guess there is a difference between mensch and minch. Maybe, I should have spelled it for her first. And, I almost crawled thru the internet cable leaving our house to deliver my version of Texas whoop ass down on that guy's head! I'm glad I didn't.

"Mensch" is a common every day slang compliment in Yiddish, it means a good, decent man. It is really not used like the German word to describe a person or human being. It is never a derogatory.

Originally Posted by LarryAndro

The other day someone called me a mensch. It was in a positive context, and so, of course my vanity wanted to know more details....

I wish I hadn't started this thread. My imagination had "mensch", applied to me, made up to be a big deal. Now, you guys are whittling it down to just plain "man."

So, next, it will be little man? Then, youth? Finally, the guy was calling me a boy, and insulting me!

Originally Posted by LarryAndro

I wish I hadn't started this thread. My imagination had "mensch", applied to me, made up to be a big deal. Now, you guys are whittling it down to just plain "man."

So, next, it will be little man? Then, youth? Finally, the guy was calling me a boy, and insulting me!

Buckup LarryAndro...for a "shey'∙gets" you're getting all "far∙misht" over "bub'·kes". Zay gezunt!!!

Originally Posted by LarryAndro

I wish I hadn't started this thread. My imagination had "mensch", applied to me, made up to be a big deal. Now, you guys are whittling it down to just plain "man."

So, next, it will be little man? Then, youth? Finally, the guy was calling me a boy, and insulting me!

Interesting how the meaning of a word can change depending on the context, tone, who says it and what the recipient hears. Wars have been fought over misunderstood comments ..... or so I've heard. No offense BTW .....

Originally Posted by WineGuyD

Buckup LarryAndro...for a "shey'·gets" you're getting all "far·misht" over "bub'·kes". Zay gezunt!!!

Somehow, this feels like mensch deja vu all over again!

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

... Wars have been fought over misunderstood comments ..... or so I've heard. ...

I am blanking. But, at the end of world war II, right before we dropped the bomb, wasn't there some misunderstanding about a word used in the terms demanding surrender? Or, was that in the prelude to Pearl Harbor? Or, both, maybe.

Originally Posted by WineGuyD

"Mensch" is a common every day slang compliment in Yiddish, it means a good, decent man. It is really not used like the German word to describe a person or human being. It is never a derogatory.

Originally Posted by LarryAndro

I wish I hadn't started this thread. My imagination had "mensch", applied to me, made up to be a big deal. Now, you guys are whittling it down to just plain "man."

So, next, it will be little man? Then, youth? Finally, the guy was calling me a boy, and insulting me!

It is most definitely a strong compliment.