TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
>The meaning is described correctly, the etymology isn't (according to
>Chambers dictionary): "Ur-" is a German prefix meaning "the
>protoypical" or "the oldest". It has been borrowed in this meaning by
>the English. "Ur-" appears to have common roots with "out".
>
>And, while we're at it: It's not "uber", it's "über". (I know that
>everybody in the English world mispronounces it "uber", but that's no
>excuse to misspell it as well ;-)
Would ueber be ok for German contexts, then? I avoid diacriticals in
most electronic documents where I don't control the printing and
transmission. (When I do, you've never seen such font fondling.
Expert sets, swashes, titling typefaces, optical sizing, the whole
shebang. My excuse is that fiddling with that occupies my left brain
enough that my right can be really creative, but it's probably just
an excuse.)
Actually, I think uber has been Englishized enough that doing
anything else would confuse the reader, even readers who know.
I want people to read my message, not stare at my charming
spelling idiosyncracies (as I will sometimes stare at charming
Australian spellings).
