When Beyonce and JayZ decided that their emotional and physical union was so snug that the word babe was too capacious for it, the word Bae was born. Today, as a form of address and term of endearment for one's significant other, Bae has become the new rage. So all the kids are now calling their boyfriend or girlfriend Bae, and moonily explaining to their uncomprehending parents that these sheep sounds (emerging from the mouths of er.. baes) mean, "Before Anyone Else".
Indian parents should actually not be dumbfounded at all. In this, as in everything else, the West is just discovering what our ancestors have always known — referring to one's significant other by a name that is actually not their name is a fun game everyone can play. Traditionally, Indian wives, to show respect and deference would avoid uttering the names of their husbands and other male members of the family. The taboo extended so far as to even unrelated words or syllables with a similar sound to the forbidden male name.
This was the cause of much good natured ribbing and merriment by irreverent kids in the household. A grandfather whose name was Tarachand meant that no woman in the house could ever point to a star and call it by its name — which of course made the hunger for astronomical knowledge amongst the children both critical and urgent. Since even similar words were not exempt, the poor hapless woman who wanted to send a telegram (a taar) to someone, was reduced to lisping some homophonic words to the bewildered postmaster. A Hari Singh in the family spared the children of that house from the inevitable hectoring and lecturing from the womenfolk to "finish up the greens."