The paper scrutinizes the current position and role of the English language as a lingua franca in the modern engineering community in Serbia. First, it traces the development of English against the background of other world languages employed in international communication throughout the field of mechanical engineering, primarily German as the predominant engineering language used during the largest part of the 20 th century. The authors attempt to show the shift from German to English in regard to scientific terminology and everyday use of these two languages in the engineering discourse. Furthermore, the importance of English for students of engineering, future professionals, is discussed on the example of the use of this language in education for specific and academic purposes, bearing in mind the overwhelming presence of English in the engineering profession today. The study leads towards the conclusion that English occupies the crucial position in the professional identity of engineers, and that it is no longer possible to ignore the superior status of English among other languages, for better or for worse.