The West-Slavic languages Upper Sorbian and Lower Sorbian have been surrounded by speakers of German since the early Middle Ages. The present contribution describes the socio-linguistic background and use of gor, a German borrowing in the dialect of Schleife, which occupies a transitional position between the two Sorbian languages. The use of gor in 20th century spoken Schleife Sorbian is contrasted with its use in an early 19th century source written in the same dialect, the work of the peasant-writer Hanso Nepila.