When:
Lookups spiked on September 24, 2010.
Why:
Carrie Fisher used the word to describe her father, the pop crooner Eddie Fisher, in a statement released after his death:
"He was an extraordinary talent and a true mensch."
Mensch comes from the Yiddish word for "human being" and is used to mean "a person of integrity and honor."
(In the 1950s, when Fisher created a Hollywood scandal by divorcing Debbie Reynolds to marry Elizabeth Taylor, he did not necessarily elevate his status as a mensch.)
The root of the word connects it to man.
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
