Hey, Bae {and Why This Word’s the Worst}

So if you’ve been around the block a time or two or have found yourself perusing the interwebs, you’ll stumble often across this word, “Bae.” I first was introduced to this word by teenagers and when I asked them what it meant, about half had no idea and simply said it was their word for “my boo” (which is another whole blog post itself). The sound of bae is screeching to my ears. Like nails on a chalkboard. What does it mean? It sounds like a lazy way to say Babe. Like, we forgot the B or couldn’t be bothered to write it in a text message or on Instagram, so let’s quickly shorten it to Bae because we save so much time writing it that way…oh wait…

In a quest to get to the bottom of this Bae business, I scoured Google and came up with a few different things.

First, Time magazine and Pharrell seem to know what it’s all about. 

Time even concludes: “A good rule of thumb for now at least: if you would use the words boo or babe in some circumstance, you can probably use bae.” False. That’s not a good rule of anything. If you’re using the word boo, you’ve already failed. Don’t replace it with bae otherwise that’s a double fail. Stop it. Maybe say babe, but even then, be sure about who you’re talking about. 

Up next? Your “bae” is excrement. Is that what you mean? Because somehow I don’t think it is…

“Bae” Watch and Other Ways It’s Infecting Culture

Apart from the meanings above, it supposedly means “before anyone else.” Translated: I love you so much, I just don’t think you’re worth actually speaking three words into existence, so I’d rather just say, “Hey Bae!” and call it a day. Note: You’re not only limited to 140 characters when you speak just so you know. You can actually express how you feel about someone without resorting to something resembling “U R A QT Pie.”

Lastly, I turned to Pinterest to really get to the bottom of this because as everyone knows, Pinterest is the visual Google. When I plugged in just the word “bae,” these were the results I received. And suddenly, everything made sense. Pinterest gets me. They speak my language.

And Zac Efron is my bae.