Über

For the Sturmgeist album, see Über (album). For the T-Pain album, see UBER (T-Pain album). For the cab service, see Uber.com.

Über (sometimes spelled oober, ueber, uber, the former being a correct form in German just like über; German pronunciation: [ˈyːbɐ] ( listen)) comes from the German language. It has one umlaut. It is a cognate of both Latin super and Greek ὑπέρ (hyper). It is also sometimes used as a hyphenated prefix in informal English, usually for emphasis.

The term in German

In German, über is used as a prefix as well as a word in its own right. Both uses indicate a state or action involving increased elevation or quantity in the physical sense, or superiority or excess in the abstract.

elevation: "überdacht" - roof-covered, roofed, [also: reconsidered, thought over]

quantity: "über 100 Meter" - more than 100 meters, "Überschall" - supersonic

superiority: "überlegen" - (adj) superior, elite, predominant. (verb) to consider

excess: "übertreiben" - to exaggerate, "überfüllt" - overcrowded

Über may be a preposition or an adverb depending on context. E.g. über etwas sprechen - to speak about something, über die Brücke - across the bridge.

Über also translates to over, above, meta, but mainly in compound words. The actual translation depends on context. One example would be Nietzsche's term Übermensch, discussed below; another example is the Deutschlandlied, which begins with the well-known words "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" meaning "Germany, Germany above everything" (this strophe is not sung anymore, because it is mistaken as meaning "Germany above the rest of the world"; its original meaning was the German nation above its constituent states [Prussia, Hanover, Württemberg etc.]).

The German word unter, meaning beneath or under, is antonymous to über. Unter can be found in words such as Untermensch, U-Bahn (Untergrundbahn = subway), U-Boot (Unterseeboot = submarine), as well as toponyms, such as Unter den Linden.

The term in English

Origins

The crossover of the term "über" from German into English goes back to the work of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. In 1883, Nietzsche coined the term "Übermensch" to describe the higher state to which he felt men might aspire. The term was brought into English by George Bernard Shaw in the title to his 1903 play Man and Superman. During his rise to power, Adolf Hitler adopted Nietzsche's term, using it in his descriptions of an Aryan master race. It was in this context that American Jewish comic book creator Jerry Siegel encountered the term and conceived the 1933 story "The Reign of the Super-Man", in which "Superman" is "an evil mastermind with advanced mental powers".^[1] Throughout the following decade, Siegel, and Joseph Shuster, recast Superman into the iconic American hero he subsequently became. It is through this association with Superman the hero that the term "über" carries much of its English sense implying irresistibility or invincibility.^[2]

Current popular culture

Television

One of the first popular modern uses of the word as a synonym in English for super was a Saturday Night Live TV sketch in 1979. The sketch, What if?, pondered the notion of what if the comic book hero Superman had landed in Nazi Germany when he first came from Krypton. Rather than being called Superman, he took the name of Überman.^[3] In the kids' television show Animalia, Alex uses the word "uberly" a lot for emphasis.

The term was also used in an episode of Friends (season 1, episode 5, "The One with the East German Laundry Detergent"), when Ross tries to impress Rachel by showing her that he uses a German laundry detergent called "Überweiss".

It was also used in season 7 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series) Turok-Han vampires (nicknamed the "ubervamps").They are a race of ancient powerful vampires stronger and fiercer than the regular vampires from the series, stated to be to vampires what Neanderthals are to humans.

In the Philippines, a reality show franchise called Pinoy Big Brother has a segment show called Über that features extra scenes and discussions about the housemates and provides edited and comical footage.

This term is also used in the film Jason X, to describe Jason's upgraded form, "Über Jason".

Also used in the internet/tv show Pure Pwnage "Uber Micro".

Video games

During the 2000s, über also became known as a synonym for super due to games and gamers excessively using the word; for example, in the game SSX Tricky, a tricky move is also known as an über-trick.

In the video game Halo Wars, the flying unit vulture and the ground unit scarab are known as uber units.

In the real-time strategy game Supreme Commander, experimental units are also known as "Uber units."

In the video game Team Fortress 2, a playable class called the Medic has a healing gun that can deploy an Übercharge on a teammate which renders both temporarily invulnerable. One of his domination phrases is "I am the Übermensch!".

In Diablo II, a hidden sidequest contains the three devil-like bosses, Diablo, Mephisto and Baal, in a special, stronger form. They are often referred to by the Diablo community as "Über-Diablo", "Über-Mephisto" and "Über-Baal".

In the 2008 game Spore, players may purchase an Uber Turret to defend their planets.

Also in the game "Return to Castle Wolfenstein", there is a powerful enemy known as 'Uber-Soldat', or 'Super-Soldier'. After killing the prototypes, agent Blazkowicz has to deal with the Uber-Soldat with the Tesla gun.

In Guitar Hero games, custom songs made to be impossible can be called Uber Songs.

In Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 of PS1, the "Uber Score" is the most difficult score to achieve.

In Dragon Quest 9, the Uber Falcon Blade is an advanced form of the Falcon Blade.

In Toy Soldiers, one of the bosses is a giant tank called the "Uber Tank".

In Dead Space 2, chapter 14-15 has an unkillable enemy known as the "Ubermorph".

In Disgaea 2 for PS2, in a place of the game there's another dimension called Land of Carnage where instead of the Normal Dimension the enemy and NPC levels are boosted by 2000%, and have an additional 200 levels added on original level, alongside their stats being doubled are called with the term "Uber"

Differences from the German

Spelling

The normal transliteration of the "ü" ('u' with an umlaut) when used in writing systems without diacritics (such as airport arrival boards, older computer systems, etc.) is "ue", not just "u". Because of different usage, the English language version of the word is distinct from "über". It is not possible to translate every English "uber" back into "über": for example, the above-mentioned "uber-left" could not be translated into "Überlinke": a Germanophone would say "linksaußen" ("outside left").

A natural language 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 in English with no clear consensus.

See also

• Uberfic
• Metal umlaut

References

1. ^ Jewish Virtual Library
2. ^ "The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition: "Superman" definition, "Word History" entry". Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. 2010. http://www.yourdictionary.com/superman. Retrieved Mar 14, 2011. 
3. ^ What If?, Saturday Night Live Transcripts, Retrieved 2007-11-16

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