Project 2 Assignment: Cultural Knowledge of the Word Babe

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Social Meanings of “Babe”
Introduction
What comes to your mind when someone greets you, “Hi Babe!”?What may cross your mind has a relationship with what the word means to you. Many people believe that the word is an abbreviation of “bay” meaning one’s significant partner. In reality, the word has various meanings. The word has evolved throughout history of different cultures across the world. Its history is traced back to 1150 when word “baban” was in use to mean “elderly woman” or “grandma” (Donkin 15). By 1230, “baban” was truncated into “baba”, and it meant referred to peasant females. Later during the 1520’s it was transformed into “baby”, which meant a childish individual. By 1915“baby”changed into ‘babe” which meant a “beautiful damsel”. Currently it has been transformed into “bae”(Zarinsky 1).
Cultural Knowledge of the Word “Babe”
In my culture and social environment, the word babe means a nickname given by one to his/her special person. It can be used across gender, meaning man call his girl babe, and vice versa. Other meaning ascribed to the word include someone a person cares much about and with whom one spends much time. The name is used especially when one feels that his girl is good or hot because she is special to him.
My observation found it as a word with great meanings and carries a lot of emotions. It means that if used in the right way, it can mean a lot to the one the word is addressed to. For instance, when a boyfriend calls his girlfriend babe, she knows that he is showing that he loves and cares for her. When the word is used, immediate emotions are visible in facial features and thoughts (Zimmer, Solomon and Carson 90).
What the Word Means to my Friends
From my research conducted on five friends and relatives, it was found out that the word “babe” has a strong special meaning. One cannot just go around calling everyone or every girl babe. Some people do not like the word being used on them, and may be offended. This can be realized by analyzing the facial features or tones in their voices. Before using the word, one should be c...