# Swedish:  grabbarna



## Doval

Hi,

The best I can gather, "grabbarna" means "boys," but in the generalized sense of guys/lads, as in when in English we say "the boys," which may refer to grown men as well as children.  Is my understanding of this term correct?  Can the term be used to refer to mixed male-female groups?

I encountered this term in the song "Sommar," by Fronda:

_Det är sommar o grabbarna glider, 
 Hänger runt I parken o smuttar på en cider..._.

Thanks in advance.


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## Muzze

The term can only be used to refer to males and mean as you say boy, guy, chap. 

Grabbarna means "the boys" and can also refer to adults (but not too old ones).

I do not use this words a lot but if I do just in some situations. For example if I play footbal/soccer wirh young people, "Kom igen grabbar!". 

Or if I for example will do something with friends that I use to hang out with.

Jag ska ut och dricka några öl med grabbarna.


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## Doval

Thanks Muzze! Your explanation is very clear.


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## solregn

Muzze said:


> Grabbarna means "the boys" and can also refer to adults (but not too old ones).



I've definitely heard men in their 40s and 50s referring to men their own age as "grabbar" - but then again, I don't know what "too old" means to you! 

It is nevertheless true that men (especially over the age of 40 I'd say) also call each other "gubbar" - which litterally means "geezers" or "old men". This is done kind of jokingly, but the word is so frequently used that it's almost like a synonym for "man". A woman of the same age might affectionately refer to her husband as "min gubbe", for example.


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## Muzze

Thats why I said "not too old ones" - there is no specific age when you start to say "gubbar" instead of for example "grabbar". I guess it is the same in english. 

I think it also is a dialectal thing. In Scania you for example start to say "gubbar" very soon when you refeer to all the players in the team but you never call a individuel player "gubbe" (maybe if you want to be rude). My impression is that they start later up in the country to say "gubbar".


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## Doval

Thanks to all for your responses.  In English, you can say "the boys" to refer to a group of seventy-something-year-old pensioners sitting around playing poker or a group of seven-year-old grade schoolers playing marbles.  The idea (when referring to adults) is to emphasize the maleness of the group, often with a special focus on "typical" male behavior.  For example:

-What are the boys up to now?
-What do you think?  Playing poker, drinking, smoking and arguing.

I had the impression "grabbarna" functioned more or less the same.


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## solregn

Then there's also "pojkar" which is used more or less the same as "grabbar", but which has - I'd say - a more gentle touch to it. "Pojkar" is more standard than "grabbar", which is more a slang word. The litteral equivalent to "boys and girls" would often be "pojkar och flickor" in Swedish, when talking about young children for example.


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## Muzze

Doval said:


> Thanks to all for your responses.  In English, you can say "the boys" to refer to a group of seventy-something-year-old pensioners sitting around playing poker or a group of seven-year-old grade schoolers playing marbles.  The idea (when referring to adults) is to emphasize the maleness of the group, often with a special focus on "typical" male behavior.  For example:
> 
> -What are the boys up to now?
> -What do you think?  Playing poker, drinking, smoking and arguing.
> 
> I had the impression "grabbarna" functioned more or less the same.



Y it functions as that as well. You can say - vad håller pojkarna/grabbarna på med nu? (when reefereing to a group of old man - perhaps doing something like gambling etc.) But I would say it with irony in my voice and also probably only to a group of people that I know. 

The world can be used in many ways and I guess it differs from group to group sometimes. 

Låt grabben vara ifred = Leave the kid alone.  (in these case it referes to a child or a teenager or maybe a young adult that is "small" etc.


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## Doval

Muzze said:


> Y it functions as that as well. You can say - vad håller pojkarna/grabbarna på med nu? (when reefereing to a group of old man - perhaps doing something like gambling etc.) But I would say it with irony in my voice and also probably only to a group of people that I know.
> 
> The world can be used in many ways and I guess it differs from group to group sometimes.
> 
> Låt grabben vara ifred = Leave the kid alone.  (in these case it referes to a child or a teenager or maybe a young adult that is "small" etc.


Yes, "boy" functions in this way as well, in both your examples.  Thanks!


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## AutumnOwl

Doval said:


> Can the term be used to refer to mixed male-female groups?


If you want to talk about a mixed group it would be "grabbarna och tjejerna".


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