Translating the Untranslatable

Every translator has that one word that makes them pause — not because it’s hard, but because it simply doesn’t exist in the target language.

One of my favourites?
“Sobremesa.”
A Spanish word for that lovely stretch of time after a meal, when the plates are empty but the conversation lingers. There’s no direct English equivalent — and that’s where the art of translation comes in.

Do you leave it in the original?
Do you explain it with a footnote?
Do you reshape the sentence to carry the same feeling instead of the exact meaning?

As a gastronomy translator, this is the kind of puzzle I love. Food terms often come bundled with culture, history, and nuance — and sometimes the job isn’t to “translate” the word, but to translate the experience.

Because translation isn’t just about words. It’s about people. And the little moments that make language feel alive.