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The internet is basically flooded with abbreviations since people online are as lazy as they come. How can you be productive when there are so many unwatched cat video on the web, right? That is how the famous OMG (Oh My God), LOL (Laughing Out Loud), TMI (Too Much Information), and the exceptionally irritating YOLO (You Only Live Once) came to be. With just a couple of letters, you can save up on that valuable Internet time and continue browsing like a pro. You’ve probably encountered the word bae on the line but do you know what it means and how it came to be? Well, here you go.
The Origin of Bae
The internet is such a strange and ambiguous place that one can never be certain of anything they read. The same can be told for the origin of the phrase bae. There are some ideas out there, but everything is so colossal that only a hacker worthy of the Anonymous group can actually trace the phrase’s true origin. What we do know, however, is that in 2003, an unknown user submitted a definition in the famous Urban Dictionary and, unknowingly, started a naming revolution.
The Meaning of Bae
Now, the actual meaning of the phrase is somewhat problematic. While most people believe that it is just a shortening of the word baby (it makes sense if you say “babe” quickly and a bit clumsily), there are those who feel that it is actually an acronym meaning “before anyone else.” This is what someone tweeted back in 2011, and people pretty much accepted it as true. But is it really? Chances are the truth is somewhere in between. It is most likely that the word actually meant baby but people attributed some more meaning to it.
The Popularity of Bae
If you look at the dates, you’ll realize that it’s been quite a while since the phrase came to be, so why is it so popular right now, almost 15 years after it was introduced? Well, one of the reasons why it’s still so popular is that it’s widely used even outside of the internet. People use it in text messages, on Snapchat, and even when speaking in person. That alone is enough to keep the word alive and functional. Let’s be honest. People are usually lazy even when they’re not on the web so it seems logical that they would always opt for a shorter version, even if it’s just one word.
Bae in Popular Culture
Of course, one other important contributing factor to the popularity of the bae phrase is its appearance in popular culture. It might be news to you that the phrase YOLO was basically invented by the famous singer Drake who used it in his song. It appeared in the song The Motto and the internet pretty much exploded. Drake is often mocked on the web for his meme-inclined appearance, but the truth is, whether you like to confess it or not, he is quite an influential Internet figure. In that same way, Pharell became quite an important character when he included the word bae in his song Come Get It Bae. Of course, he didn’t do it accidentally, but tried to catch this viral trend and become a part of it. You could say that he succeeded.
Salt Bae
Finally, you can’t talk about the phrase bae without talking about one of the most popular memes in recent history – the Salt Bae. Who is that and why is he called that? It is a Turkish chef called Nusret Gökçe who posted a video back in January this year of himself making a steak with such enthusiasm that he became viral almost immediately. His special move that got him his fame was the pouring of salt over his forearm. It takes so little to ignite the crowd on the web, doesn’t it?
That is the origin of the word bae, so you now have our permission to use it profoundly,
