I am an Australian. I have never heard of the phrase "act like a mensch" before. I am reasonably widely read, I studied Latin and French at school, and learned a smattering of Spanish.

Putting aside whether your use of the phrase make the piece more interesting, my suggestion is that it would not be widely understood. People like me would either guess that it meant something (I would guess something bad - like "act like a jerk"), or if they were sufficiently interested, look it up online.

Either way, the use of the phrase is a barrier to clear understanding.

Even taking the context into consideration, following on from the phrase:

The guy behaved badly. You need an advisor you can trust to ...

Other phrases could be inserted that made sense, eg.

• Stand up for your rights
• Be prepared to walk if you do
• Comfort you if you are in trouble
• Kick those guys in the head

Not knowing the phrase, "decent human being" just doesn't jump to mind.

Amusingly, as I type this, the word "mensch" is underlined in red in my web browser as a misspelling. So, whatever dictionary Firefox is using doesn't know the word either.

Edited to add ...

I checked with four other members of my family during our usual dinner-table banter. None of them had heard of the word "mensch". Two of them spend the evenings reading books.

I am an Australian. I have never heard of the phrase "act like a mensch" before. I am reasonably widely read, I studied Latin and French at school, and learned a smattering of Spanish.

Putting aside whether your use of the phrase makes the piece more interesting, my suggestion is that it would not be widely understood. People like me would either guess that it meant something (I would guess something bad - like "act like a jerk"), or if they were sufficiently interested, look it up online.

Either way, the use of the phrase is a barrier to clear understanding.

Even taking the context into consideration, following on from the phrase:

The guy behaved badly. You need an advisor you can trust to ...

Other phrases could be inserted that made sense, eg.

• Stand up for your rights
• Be prepared to walk if you do
• Comfort you if you are in trouble
• Kick those guys in the head

Not knowing the phrase, "decent human being" just doesn't jump to mind.

Amusingly, as I type this, the word "mensch" is underlined in red in my web browser as a misspelling. So, whatever dictionary Firefox is using doesn't know the word either.

Edited to add ...

I checked with four other members of my family during our usual dinner-table banter. None of them had heard of the word "mensch". Two of them spend the evenings reading books.

I am an Australian. I have never heard of the phrase "act like a mensch" before. I am reasonably widely read, I studied Latin and French at school, and learned a smattering of Spanish.

Putting aside whether your use of the phrase make the piece more interesting, my suggestion is that it would not be widely understood. People like me would either guess that it meant something (I would guess something bad - like "act like a jerk"), or if they were sufficiently interested, look it up online.

Either way, the use of the phrase is a barrier to clear understanding.

Even taking the context into consideration, following on from the phrase:

The guy behaved badly. You need an advisor you can trust to ...

Other phrases could be inserted that made sense, eg.

• Stand up for your rights
• Be prepared to walk if you do
• Comfort you if you are in trouble
• Kick those guys in the head

Not knowing the phrase, "decent human being" just doesn't jump to mind.

Amusingly, as I type this, the word "mensch" is underlined in red in my web browser as a misspelling. So, whatever dictionary Firefox is using doesn't know the word either.

I am an Australian. I have never heard of the phrase "act like a mensch" before. I am reasonably widely read, I studied Latin and French at school, and learned a smattering of Spanish.

Putting aside whether your use of the phrase make the piece more interesting, my suggestion is that it would not be widely understood. People like me would either guess that it meant something (I would guess something bad - like "act like a jerk"), or if they were sufficiently interested, look it up online.

Either way, the use of the phrase is a barrier to clear understanding.

Even taking the context into consideration, following on from the phrase:

The guy behaved badly. You need an advisor you can trust to ...

Other phrases could be inserted that made sense, eg.

• Stand up for your rights
• Be prepared to walk if you do
• Comfort you if you are in trouble
• Kick those guys in the head

Not knowing the phrase, "decent human being" just doesn't jump to mind.

Amusingly, as I type this, the word "mensch" is underlined in red in my web browser as a misspelling. So, whatever dictionary Firefox is using doesn't know the word either.

Edited to add ...

I checked with four other members of my family during our usual dinner-table banter. None of them had heard of the word "mensch". Two of them spend the evenings reading books.