En gubbe is a Swedish noun most often used to refer to a male person, and it can be affectionate or derogatory depending on the context. When talking to your friends about your grandfather, for example, you might refer to him as en gubbe; it's an endearing way of saying "old man". If you really want to insult someone, it can be coupled with adjectives such as "grinig gubbe" (grumpy old man) or "ful gubbe" (literally 'ugly man' but usually used to mean 'dirty old man' or 'letch'). Most linguists believe that this dialect word was the origin of 'en gubbe' meaning man, probably first used to refer to small children. One final form of 'gubbe' to watch out for: in Swedish slang, 'en gubbe' also means 'a gram' of drugs.

Source: The Local September 28, 2018 13:52 UTC