Über

For the Sturmgeist album see Über (album).

The word über () comes from the German language. It is a cognate of both Latin super and Greek ύπερ (hyper), as well as English over (as in "overkill"). During the 2000s, über also became a synonym for super; e.g. überleet = supercool, generally with a slightly intensified meaning. Über is commonly written as uber in English, though with slightly different meaning.

The normal transliteration of the "ü" ('u' with a diaresis representing an umlaut) when used in writing systems without diacritics (such as airport arrival boards, older computer systems, etc.) is "ue", not just "u"; however, it could be argued that the English Language use of the word uber is a new word distinct from ueber. This is because English is defined by common use of words, which dictionaries and academia record, not the reverse. The use of 'ü', 'u', and 'ue' in the word is an emerging trend in common usage with no clear consensus.

Uses in German

In German, über is used as a prefix as well as a separate word. In the latter case, it may be a preposition or an adverb depending on context. Eg. über etwas sprechen - speak about something, über die Brücke - over the bridge, übernehmen - take over (nehmen = take).

Über also translates to over, above, meta, and super. The actual translation depends on context. One example would be the term Übermensch from Friedrich Nietzsche, which translates to super human or superman (literally "overhuman"). It is assumed that it is via this translation that the word über entered the English vocabulary (cf. calque).

In German online slang it can also be used with the same meaning as the English usages of "uber" by gamers. In this case, it is typically written without the umlaut—despite the ready availability and familiarity of the 'ü' character—in part to distinguish it from its original meaning. Linguistically speaking, it's interesting to note that a language can borrow a loan word that it already loaned out, as long as the meaning has changed sufficiently. In the most cases of this usage, it is borrowed directly as Denglisch, or an English word/phrase that has been fitted adhoc into the German language. In Hindi and other Sanskritik languages of India, a word of the same origin, 'üper' means 'up' or 'upper'.

Über contrasts in German with the word Unter, meaning "Under". "Unter" can be found in words such as Untermensch, U-Bahn (Untergrundbahn), U-Boot (Unterseeboot), etc, as well as many toponyms, such as Unter den Linden.

Uses

Fan fiction

In the Xena: Warrior Princess fan fiction community, "Uberfic" (here using "uber-" much in the sense of "meta-") was coined to describe alternative universe stories that take the basic character archetypes from the show and transplant them to another setting. Popular examples are the characters Dar and Kerry, first seen in the book Tropical Storm by Melissa Good. The term has also started to see use in other fandoms.

Also common in the fan fiction communities is the term "Uberkid", used for a new and ridiculously powerful character that the author has put in the story. It is an equivalent of the more famous Mary Sue, and may be considered just as derogatory.

TV

In the TV commercial for Quizno's Prime Rib on Garlic Bread Sub actors describe prime rib as the "Uber Meat."

In the TV series Friends in the episode entitled The One with the East German Laundry Detergent from October 20, 1994, Ross changes from his old laundry detergent Snuggle to "Überweiß." "It's new, it's German, it's extra-tough."

In the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the word "Ubervamp" was coined to describe the 7th season army of vampires waiting to emerge from the Hellmouth beneath Sunnydale.

In the TV series The X-Files, Special Agent Scully refers to "überchildren" when talking about a female scientist and a male that is bound in a wheelchair.

In the TV series Andromeda, "uber" is an insulting slang term for Nietzschean.

In the TV series South Park's Episode 8 of Season 10 entitled, "Make Love, Not Warcraft", the word Über is used gratuitously as the boys play World of Warcraft. ("That was such über pwnage.")

In the internet series Pure Pwnage, the main character Jeremy claims to have "übermicro" and to be an "übergamer".

Gaming

Über is a gaming term for a player or object that is considered superior, For example, a player who has accumulated the most points, rare and advanced weapons, tools, clothing, or spells available in a game could be referred to as über. Rare or powerful items themselves are also frequently called über. Something does not even have to be a tangible object to be considered über; for example, a player could use an "über strategy", "über hax", or "über micro." The word is used fairly frequently in MMORPG and First-person shooter computer games.

SSX is a snowboarding game that introduced "über" tricks; which were unlocked after certain trickes were executed properly. In SSX 3 there are "über" and "super-über" tricks were introduced.

"00ber", a leet (1337) spelling of "über", is often used in relation to the Pokémon gaming products. "00ber" is seeing declining usage however, being replaced by the more standard "über" or "uber".

The first person shooter UberSoldier (2006) is the first major game title to use the word über in its title. However, it is not the only English language computer game title to import a German word (see also Soldat (2002/2005)). The term Ubersoldat itself was introduced by the 2001 first person shooter Return to Castle Wolfenstein.

In the game Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith, the cheat code "trainme" will cause the game to refer to the player as an "Uberjedi."

In the game Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, players can open a portal to "uber" bosses and get their super rare rewards.

Many multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) gamers use the word "über" while gaming. In this case, "über" is commonly referred to a specific player's skill. However, some gamers twist the definition of "über" and use it in different contexts, however the idea is generally the same, i.e: "ubernoob" a "massive" or a "super" noob.

In Far Cry Instincts, the Übers are mutated humans like you that you have to fight, and often carry P90's.

Other

Due to fast growth in popularity, über is also often applied to everyday things. For example, if a high school freshman (American) were to show qualities that are "un-freshmanlike" or generally attributed to juniors or seniors , such as a thorough understanding of trigonometry and/or calculus, the person might be referred to as an "über-freshman." In this sense, it is identical to the common usage in gaming.

The word über is also frequently used in the Information Technology profession due in part to its prolific usage in gaming. An extremely powerful web server for instance could be referred to as being 'just über', the phrase lending its name to a linux blog/search engine. Google Finance describes its own interactive charts as "ubercool".

During the 2006 Major League Baseball season, General Manager Theo Epstein of the Boston Red Sox said that he will make an "Uber" team to get his team into serious contention. However, the Red Sox collapsed to their arch-rival New York Yankees in the 2006 Boston Massacre. The Red Sox season ended not making the playoffs for the first time since 2002.

See also

• Überfremdung
• Übermensch