We investigate how novel English-derived words (anglicisms) are used in a Germanlanguage Internet hip hop forum, and what factors contribute to their uptake. Because English has established itself as something of a global lingua franca, many languages are currently undergoing a process of introducing new loanwords borrowed from English. However, while the motivations for borrowing are well studied, including . the need to express concepts that do not have corresponding expressions in the recipient language, and the social prestige associated with the other language (Hock and Joseph, 1996), the dynamics of this process are poorly understood. .
