"Superhuman" is just "Superman" but without getting sued by DC comics.

And with the additional small hint of Nazism for Europeans. But otherwise exactly the same more or less :)

Nope. You must be thinking of the terms "Untermensch" (used a lot by Nazis) and "Übermensch" (introduced by Nietzsche, and rarely used by Nazis). "Supermensch" was never used at all.

Growing up in the 90s in Sweden, we definitively were taught that "Übermensch" ("Övermänniska" in Swedish, literally "Above Human") was something the Nazis promoted during their time, together with demoting "Untermensch". Maybe that's wrong, and if so I thank you for the correction, but "Superhuman" does give me similar vibes regardless, not because of the exact wording, but because of the ideas/concepts.

Nietzsche’s sister tried to garner favor with the Nazi regime. After Nietzsche’s death, she took his notes, published them under the title “Will to Power” and made it all sound as though Hitler was the fulfillment of Nietzschean ideas. Even scholars who built their careers on Nietzschean philosophy fell for this. For example Ayn Rand. So your teachers were in good company. In truth, everything about the Nazis would have made Nietzsche sick to his stomach: group-think, racism, big government, socialism, robbery, personality cult, lack of intellect, mass appeal, Gleichschaltung, militarism.

Elisabeth and Bernhard were rabid nationalists and antisemites long before the NSDAP. They established their vegetarian-antisemitic-'Aryan' colony in Paraguay in 1887, two years before Adolf Hitler was born.

It failed for financial reasons and the rather harsh environment. They ditched the vegetarianism and started selling meat to get some money, spiraling into alcohol and morphine abuse. In 1889 Bernhard killed himself with strychnine, after which Elisabeth started her career as a fake chronicler by writing a book aimed at creating a much nicer and 'Aryan' image of Bernhard and the colony than the truth would have allowed.

As you allude to, Friedrich Nietzsche poured buckets and buckets of abuse over people like his sister and other german nationalists, refusing for the entirety of his life to identify as german, and towards the end of his life he even claimed to be a polish nobleman, free of the tainted blood of the germans.

HN can be so funny sometimes. An actual German says "hey maybe this specific word shouldn't be used", and a random follows it up with "Nope, you're wrong." lmao

maybe given their history of literally accepting Hitler, Germans shouldn't be the ones policing what words can be used?

Given everyone's history, someone somewhere has accepted evil in every country, so no one should police what words mean?

I'd say stay away from policing at least one's own evils. People that are idiotic enough to connect the superhuman in this context to Naziism should stay away from policing any meanings (but now I'm guilty of policing what people should police)

Because Ubermensch comes from Nietzche a century before the Nazis, as said. No-one suggested that "Superhuman" shouldn't be used, either. A some point people need to put things in context and not "get the creeps" over any little things. I am sure that Germans don't even notice all those "Volkswagen" around them...

Nietzsche introduced the concept in Also Sprach Zarathustra, published in 1883.

Why would Germans be an authority on what words should or shouldn't be used in English?

This is sort of a reverse version of the very common trend of American political correctness / sensitivity language being exported around the world. Our ancestors committed heinous crimes, therefore we get to tell you how to speak, even though you had nothing to do with it.

A German person just said that it gives them nazi viber, nothing about English words that should be used.

Person above argues that the words are different therefore such connection can't be made which is just... wrong because they reply in a thread where someone literally said they made that connection.

In short, we're explicitly talking about what Europeans see (me too, I'm not German), not what Americans should do.

> nothing about English words that should be used

The comment I'm replying to says, verbatim, "hey maybe this specific word shouldn't be used" (as a paraphrase of that commenter's understanding of the argument being made by the German). That is what I'm responding to.

I guess I don't see what the problem is?

If someone says a particular word or phrase is problematic for them, no one can tell them they're wrong. You cannot dictate how other people respond to language, and it's really weird to see people trying to do that.

Sure, I can't tell them they're "wrong", i.e. I think the self-reported subjective feeling is probably accurate.

What I object to is the implication that Americans should punish themselves by refraining from using normal words in their own language because Germans feel bad about something Germans did.

The implication is that if they want to market to Europeans (which I'm sure they do), they probably shouldn't use that word. I agree Americans see it in a positive light, including me, though I find superhuman generic to the point of background noise.

What do you think ‘super’ means ? It is latin for ‘over’, wich in German is über. In English it has come to take on a broader meaning, but Nietzsche’s übermensch is called ‘superman’ in most English translations, even if ‘superhuman’ would be more accurate.

GP doesn’t imply Nazis used ‘Supermensch’, just that the ‘superhuman’ translates to übermensch and that the branding might evoke this concept for European ears.

Yes, the idea of the death of God also gives me shivers.

'Superhuman' sales representative: "Then you might be interested in our new Deus Ex package".

You cannot expect other countries to stop using normal words because they remind you of the bad things your country did.

Shame for what Germany did during the Nazi regime is something for Germans to bear, not Americans. We are not at fault for that, and we have no obligation to change our own culture to accommodate your guilt.

That’s quite a leap. The parent commenter didn’t call for them to withdraw the branding, they were just sharing something interesting and unique about their perspective as a German.

Just to be clear, I never said that the word should be banned.

I am not sure how important the German or general European market is so hard to say whether it even should be a consideration for Grammarly.

That said the ideas of some people being intrinsically better than other people isn't specific to Germany. Eugenics used to be popular in many countries including the US. It is very advisable for other countries to learn from German history so our mistakes are not repeated.

>I am not sure how important the German or general European market

I'm sure a large population of second language English speakers is a huge market for grammarly, no?

> I know it has a positive connotation with super heroes in US culture

I'm not sure about this. I'm a US citizen, but it absolutely does not have positive connotations to me at all. It has very negative ones.

Are you a native English speaker? I can't think of a scenario where "superhuman" has negative connotations in American English. When we say someone has superhuman skill, or speed, or strength, it is always a positive thing.

> Are you a native English speaker?

Yes, I am. Born and raised in the US.

There are instances where the term is used in a positive sense, yes, but those are limited in scope. "Superhuman strength" rather than just "superhuman".

"Superhuman" on its own is a term that has long been tightly associated with a wide variety of horrible things. Eugenics, for example.

I honestly think most American English speakers are not thinking about eugenics when they hear that term. I believe you when you say that it has those connotations for you but I think you are in a small minority.

Without a doubt

I like superhuman as an adjective, it implies some quality of a man is superhuman, but a superhuman as a standalone item is very frightening as it spells obsolescence for the rest of us ( I guess this is the plot of X-Men )

I had exact same issues with "Uber".