It is currently accepted that every study concerning cross-linguistic verbal interactions includes a cross-cultural dimension. This paper tries to explore untranslatable objects due to the way they are rooted in a given culture and suggests resolution procedures. The translating process then falls within the arena of negotiation. The translator, an intermediate link in the communication chain, strives to find a satisfactory compromise and applies a negotiation strategy from borrowing to adapting and even localizing. The development of examples drawn from published texts shows that objects considered untranslatable, and thus taken as loan words in the target language, are in fact a kind of translation since a semantic shift occurs systematically with their reception and integration in the target culture.