Temba
A person of a certain age — somewhere past forty, not yet old — usually with an implication of being established enough to pay for things.
Related lesson: Cuban Spanish: A Survival Guide.
Hear it in context
Ya yo soy un temba, asere, no aguanto esas fiestas.
I'm middle-aged now, mate — I can't take those parties any more.
Esa fiesta es para tembas, no vayas.
That party is for the over-forties, don't bother.
Se casó con un temba que tiene carro y casa.
She married an older bloke with a car and a house.
What It Actually Means
A temba is a person in the broad middle of life — the usual reckoning is somewhere from the late thirties to the mid-fifties, past young and short of old. The word applies to men and women, though it is used about men more, and it very often carries an economic overtone: a temba is old enough to own a car, a flat and a reliable income, and that fact is frequently the point of the sentence.
Where It Comes From
Not established. The derivation offered most often sends it to Cuba’s African-derived vocabulary and a Bantu source, which is plausible for the shape of the word and unproven in the specifics. Cubans themselves will give you a backronym — Tengo Edad Media, Buen Aspecto — which is a joke rather than an etymology, however often it is repeated with a straight face. What is documented is when the word went national: the timba boom of the mid-1990s, whose lyrics recommended finding a temba who could provide, put it in every mouth in Havana within a season.
How Natives Use It
Teasingly, and most safely about yourself: ya soy un temba is a standard, self-deprecating way of declining a late night. Between friends it is affectionate. About a third party it can be neutral (an age bracket) or pointed (a comment on what a younger partner is getting out of the arrangement), and only context separates the two. The word at the opposite end of the scale is chama.
Common Pitfall
Do not call someone a temba to their face unless you know them well — the implication about motives is the first thing many people hear, and it is the reason the word gets laughs. It is not a synonym for viejo: a temba is emphatically not old, and calling a genuine seventy-year-old one is a compliment nobody asked for. Outside Cuba the word means nothing at all, so it does not travel with you.