Just finished a subtitle job where the joke didn’t land in English

It was a quiet moment in a Japanese indie film — a man stares at a vending machine, mutters something about 'the wrong change being the only honest change.' The original line had that dry, almost existential shrug. I translated it as 'The only honest change is the wrong one,' but it felt flat. Tried three variations. Ended up keeping it because the rhythm of the silence after it mattered more than the punch. Sometimes you don’t fix what isn’t broken — just let it be awkward. That’s the work.