Oscar Wilde once wrote: “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
An Überflieger would argue there’s a third category of people who actually reach for them.
What does it mean?
Made from the German words for “over” and “flyer”, Überflieger, pronounced like this, literally and figuratively means “highflyer”.
An Überflieger describes someone who is exceptionally talented, successful, or outstanding in their field – someone who "soars above the rest".
Fun fact: A female Ăśberflieger can be called either the standard Ăśberflieger or an Ăśberfliegerin, reflecting the contemporary approach to gendered nouns in German, where the masculine form is widely (and occasionally controversially) used regardless of the actual gender of the person being described.
Why do I need to know Ăśberflieger?
Germany loves highflyers. In addition to Überflieger, the language boasts numerous similar terms such as Wunderkind (child prodigy), Ausnahmetalent (outstanding talent), and Hochkaräter (top performer).
One of the nice things about Überflieger, though, is that it doesn’t carry any negative connotations but instead seems to celebrate the realisation of talent in a largely uncomplicated way.
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As an aside, it’s worth noting that German doesn’t really have any phrases synonymous with “tall poppy syndrome” or “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down”.
The closest is probably Neidkultur (“culture of envy”) which seems much less interested in asking whether the tall poppy or the nail-sticking-out also play a role in the fact they get cut down or hammered.
That doesn’t mean high achievers have it all their own way in the German language, of course – no one wants to be described as a Streber, after all (someone who tries too hard) – but they still do an awful lot better than people who are judged to have underachieved in some way.
If people decide you haven’t lived up to your potential in Germany, you might find yourself dismissed as a Versager (failure), Durchschnittstyp (average guy), or Nichtsnutz (good-for-nothing)
Use it like this:
Nicht jeder muss ein Ăśberflieger sein, um im Team Erfolg zu haben.
Not everyone has to be an overachiever to succeed in a team.
Der neue Mitarbeiter gilt als Ăśberflieger in der Branche.
The new employee is considered an ace in the industry.
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Als Kind war er schon immer ein Ăśberflieger.
He was always a whiz kid as a child.
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