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<v Odile Marchetti>This is The Long Vowel. I'm Odile Marchetti.

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<v Teodor Halvorsen>And I'm Teodor Halvorsen. One word, one guest, under three minutes.

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<v Odile Marchetti>Today's guest is Amparo Lezcano, a conference interpreter in Valencia. Amparo, what did you bring us?

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<v Amparo Lezcano>Sobremesa. Sobre means over, or on top of, and mesa is the table. So, literally, over the table.

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<v Teodor Halvorsen>That sounds like a tablecloth.

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<v Amparo Lezcano>It sounds like furniture, yes. But it is time. It's the part of a meal that starts when the food is finished and nobody gets up.

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<v Odile Marchetti>How long does it last?

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<v Amparo Lezcano>That's the thing: there is no rule. After a Sunday lunch at my grandmother's, it could go on until it was dark. Coffee, then a little glass of something, then somebody's cousin arrives and the coffee starts again.

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<v Teodor Halvorsen>So it's not dessert.

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<v Amparo Lezcano>No, dessert is still the meal. Sobremesa is what happens when the plates are pushed to the middle and the conversation becomes the main course.

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<v Odile Marchetti>And you would notice if it were missing.

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<v Amparo Lezcano>Oh, immediately. If people stand up right after the last bite, it feels like the lunch was a meeting.

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<v Teodor Halvorsen>You interpret for a living. What do you do when the word comes up in a speech?

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<v Amparo Lezcano>I don't translate it. I describe it. Something like, the long conversation after a meal. It's correct, but it's flat. It's like explaining a joke.

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<v Odile Marchetti>Have you seen it happen anywhere else?

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<v Amparo Lezcano>I once worked a week in Helsinki. On the last day, after lunch, nobody moved. Somebody made more coffee. Nobody called it anything, but it was a sobremesa. The word was missing; the thing was there.

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<v Teodor Halvorsen>Is it disappearing? People eat at their desks now.

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<v Amparo Lezcano>In offices, maybe. But at the weekend it is very alive. My nephews eat in twenty minutes on a Tuesday and then sit for three hours on a Saturday.

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<v Odile Marchetti>So the word protects the time.

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<v Amparo Lezcano>I think so. When you have a name for something, it's harder to give it away.

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<v Teodor Halvorsen>Amparo Lezcano, thank you.

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<v Odile Marchetti>And thank you for listening. That was sobremesa. The next word is from Japanese.