# What the hell does "uber" mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 26, 2002, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-does-uber-mean/110856 "2002-05-26T00:36:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MagicalSilverKey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@MagicalSilverKey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicalSilverKey)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-does-uber-mean/110856/1 "2002-05-26T00:36:13Z")
I hear a lot of use of the prefix “uber” lately, but I have no clue what the hell it means. It’s not in the dictionary, at least not mine. What the hell does it mean? AFAIK it seems to be some sort of techo-yuppie term. ---
**Author:** ![Undead\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Undead\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Undead_Dude)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-does-uber-mean/110856/2 "2002-05-26T00:39:11Z")
It’s a German word for “over”. It often translates as “superior” or “major”, as in “ubergeek”. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-does-uber-mean/110856/3 "2002-05-26T01:28:23Z")
What **Undead Dude** said. Additional: In English we use the prefix “super-” in a similar way, meaning (simultaneously / interchangeably) “over”, “topmost”, “superlative”, “best”, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-does-uber-mean/110856/4 "2002-05-26T01:32:23Z")
Popularized the Freddy Nietzsche, whose _Will to Power_ gave us the concept of the [Ubermensche](http://www.philosophypages.com/dy/u.htm), which a dumpy little painter combined with his own brand of rabid fascist nationalism, which spawned the three-ring circus we’ve come to know as the second world war. Politicians really shouldn’t be allowed to read philosophy- they really make a mess of things. Dialectical Materialism was such a _good_ idea, before Lenin came along and took it out of the coffee-house. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-does-uber-mean/110856/5 "2002-05-26T01:36:04Z")
What they said, but just to pile on with more data, the actual spelling is _über_ or _ueber_. When Nietzsche discussed his “superman,” the word he used, in German, was _Übermensch_. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-does-uber-mean/110856/6 "2002-05-26T01:58:02Z")
Whoa, you must have missed the old classic Saturday Night Like sketch of Uberman!: What If: Uberman (1/27/79} > [@](#): > > Kevin Temple: Wait a minute, why didn’t Superman fight for us? > Joan Face: This is a hypothetical question, General. > Kevin Temple: Oh… oh, yes… I’m sorry… Um… > Joan Face: Well, here’s tonight’s dramatization of: What if Superman had grown up in Germany instead of America? > > [snip] > > Mr. Kent: My Son,. When your Vearth mother und I found you in the Black Forest, we raised you as our own. We taught you how to battle at Versailles. How Jews are parasites. And how Germany vill one day bring order to the vorld. Und don’t, Son, ever lift those Volkswagens by the bumper - come right off in your hand. [disappears] > Klaus Kent: Ya! He’s right! I will use my powers for the fatherland. For I am… [strips off his Earth clothes to reveal his supercostume] …Uberman! > [“Superman Theme” plays, as Uber-Man crashes through the janitor’s closet] > Hitler: Wha…? > Uberman: Excuse me, Mein Fuhrer! Stand back! There’s a bomb in this briefcase! [thorws bomb to the floor, then dives on top of it. The bomb explodes, smoke rises, and Uberman stands up unharmed.] > Hitler: You smothered the bomb with your body, and you’re not even bleeding! Who are you? > Uberman: I am… Uberman! I have superhuman powers, and I fight for untruth, injustice, and the Nazi way! And I have X-ray vision! > Lois Laneoff: X-ray vision? Can you see through my clothes? > Uberman: Ya! And through his, too. [points at Jimmy Olstein] He’s a Jew! 😃