Ult / Ulting
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About
Ult or Ulting, short for "ultimate," is a slang term in gaming referring to the act of using one's "ultimate ability" or most powerful move. These are strong skills and abilities that are generally only able to be used sparingly. The term presumably originates from early League of Legends or DOTA lingo around 2011 and has gained virality as slang for "strongest move" in recent years online.
Origin
The earliest known use of the term "ulting" comes from a Stack Exchange[1] gaming forum conversation about the video game League of Legends from March 22nd, 2011, where user Delphy states, "Katarina's ult can focus invisible champs so ulting near the shroud would kit Akali." The post gathered two points in 12 years (seen below).
The earliest known memetic use of the term is a Bad LoL Player Meme from August 27th, 2011, that reads, "Enemy Karthus Is Ulting / Too Bad Already Wasted Wish For Jungling."[2]
Spread
Throughout the 2010s, the term "ult" came to be defined via various Stack Exchange, Reddit and Slang.net discussions, as well as memetic references in subsequent years.[3][4][5] Though it originated in games like LoL, the term spread to additional titles like Smite, Destiny 2 and many more.
On October 17th, 2013, YouTuber LUNITY uploaded a parody song of Paramore's "Still Into You" under the title "Still Ulting You," referencing the slang term. Over the course of nine years, the parody song received over 1 million views and 13,000 likes (seen below).
As the term spread during the latter half of the 2010s, it became increasingly prevalent online entering into the early 2020s. However, its initial meaning also changed slightly in some contexts, such as in reference to streamers. For example, on September 20th, 2022, Twitch streamer Destiny reacted to fellow streamer Adrianah Lee crying, saying that she is "ulting" by doing so (seen below).[6]
This resulted in an Urban Dictionary post on September 20th, 2022, that defined "ulting" as "when a streamer (especially a female) breaks out in tears on stream to garner the sympathy of the viewers" (seen below).[7]
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