A Conversation for The Great Australian Bar-B-Que

Barbie not BBQ

Post 1

Researcher 188664

While BBQ is often used as a short-handed way of writing Barbecue, in Australia the verbalised form is almost always "barbie".

Note also that the expression "throw another shrimp on the barbie" is almost never uttered within the confines of Australia. This expression only came into existence in a television commercial promoting Australia in the USA. The crustaceans that Australians most like to throw on the barbie are known as prawns, and the bigger the better. In America, prawns are generally called shrimps, presumably because of their inferior size, hence the translation was required. Because of the wide-spread coverage of this ad campaign and it's misuse of standard Aussie vernacular, Australians now use this expression in humour only, and as an example of how outsiders generally misunderstand Aussie culture.


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