Odd Loan Words

What is the oddest English word that has been loaned into your mother tongue?

Do you ever feel that too many English words are now in your language? Perhaps in some conversations you can't go two words without using an English word.

I don't know which one is the oddest.
What I don't like is when Germans use English words but German grammar. So they end up with words that are neither German nor English ...e.g. to post --> posten adding the ending -en another common word is downloaden from to download.
Don't get me wrong I like English a lot, but I think you shouldn't mix it up too much. I think there is no sense in using an English word when a German exist, but especially young people tend to use English words. A few examples: event, light, action...
some more examples: http://members.chello.at/a.glueck/anglizismen.htm

In the country where I live (a Spanish speaking country), people use the word "rai" when they need a lift. It comes directly from the English word "ride" but it has been altered so that phonectically it sounds more or less like "ride".
Other words borrowed:
Pick-Up
nice
Hot Dog

In France we use a lot of english word when we speak about new technologies, for example computer science. I think that's because the vocabulary is new and no one invents french terms (english terms ever exist and every body know them, so it appears to have no reason to find frech words... Who have said we're egocentric ?!). And sometimes, when a french new word is created to be used instead of an english one, it is weak-meaning (certainly because it's the defenders of french language -boring people...- that coin it).
For example, they try to make computer comunity said "télécharger" instead of "to dowload" AND "to upload" : so you can't express the difference ! that's why every one use "dowloader" and "uploader" for that verbs (most french verbs end with -er).

What's the opinion of most French people regarding "pollution" of their language by some English words? Is there an active body of linguists who try to implement the use of French words for modern technologies or do most people not really care and just use the English words? It is often said that the French like to keep their language pure, but I don't know how much of this is hype and how much is truth.

In fact, people that think they belong to the elite try to keep french pure (i don't like that adjectiv "pure") and they will shout if you use a english word instead of a french...
But most french use a lot of english words (or words that come from english).
And i have to add that as we a country of immigration (and as we try to integrate incomers), we use a huge number of words from other langages that immigrants bring with them : italian, portugal and now arabs... Most of my friends use inch'allah, raggazza, ride etc in current dialogues.

The weirdest word in Germany: "Handy" for "cell phone" ...and the funny thing is that some people who don't know English think that it's an English term...which, of course, it is an way, but, you know, not in the sense of cellies.

Janka is right with what she's saying. There are so many English terms in our every day life we sometimes don't realize it anymore....in the advertisemnet area for example. English and German are sort of mixed together. I like it though. Language has always changed. Right now it's English being the most influential.

In French, one has "emailer," "bloquer," "l'hot-dog," "se parquer," "le parking," "l'hamburger" and a lot more.

The above are an assorted list of French and French-Canadian loans.

In Pennsylvania German, one could have "iesi" (easy), "iewen" (even), "iwwer" (over), "ehnihau" (any how), "schpelle" (to spell) and more...

In Russian the situation is very similar to what pablo described for France. A lot of English words have come to us with new technologies, but most of them considered as professional jargon.
Many Russian linguist are extremely conservative in their fight for purity of Russian language. Some of them even suggest to remove many foreign words that were included in Russian dictionaries more than 50 years ago, but I don't think that it could be here any way back.

It is difficult to say what is the most odd word that has been loaned, because no one knows the full list of English words, but I think, from widely used English word today, "buck" (in the meaning dollar) is probably most odd. Actually, it was a little modified, so sigular form has become "bucks" and plural "bucksi".

that's right deaptor, they try to remove some english from french dictionary ! But, despite what they think, french (and so russian, german, dutch, chinese etc) is a living tongue. So that people who speak it that make it and it evolve everyday.
For the example of french, a lot of english words come from french words(because of the period french was the light of culture...), these terms had evolved with their use in english (syntax and meaning), and now they're use in french with their new english meaning !

i'm sorry for all the mistakes i've just made : i'm so tired...

the english should remove all the words they borrowed from french out of their language to protest against the french irak-policy .

I think French is one of the better languages to describe loan-words. In Canada, they use a lot of English words whereas in France they would use the corresponding French word; and vice-a-versa in France.

Here is a sentence that I find really amusing:

France:
On se gare dans un parking.

Canada:
On se parque dans un stationnement.

Total French:
On se gare dans un stationnement.

Total English:
One parks in a car park.

I prefer the third example because I like to use the "proper" French terms. I speak Parisian French, but I say "la fin de semaine" instead of "le week-end."

i heard that the french academy people recently came up with a new word for hamburger that was more "french," does anybody actually use it, and are they trying to do this with many words?

I do not know about this. In Canada, they say, "hambourgeois."