Francais | English | Espanõl

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Shrimp on the barbie" is an often-quoted phrase that originated in a series of television commercials by the Australian Tourism Commission starring Paul Hogan from 1986. It has been popularly used since to make reference to Australia in popular culture.

Though the full line is often misquoted as "Throw another shrimp on the barbie" or "Put another shrimp on the barbie", the actual quote spoken by Hogan is "I'll slip an extra shrimp on the barbie for you."

"Barbie" is Australian slang for "barbecue," and the phrase often invokes images of a fun social gathering under the sun. However, Australians invariably use the term "prawn" rather than "shrimp." Also very few Australians actually cook "shrimp on the barbie"; rather prawns are usually steamed. Since the commercial was commissioned for broadcast in the United States, the change was probably made to limit confusion.

[edit] Pop culture references

• The Shrimp on the Barbie is the title of a 1990 film set in Australia, starring Cheech Marin.
• Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) utters the line in the 1994 film Dumb & Dumber when trying to pick up an Austrian woman.
• Marge Simpson says the line in the 2004 The Simpsons episode "Diatribe of a Mad Housewife".
• Lawrence Jamieson (Michael Caine) utters the line in the 1988 film Dirty Rotten Scoundrels when trying to imitate an Australian buisnessman.
• In the 2005 film The Dukes of Hazzard, the line is used in an attempt to make fun of Australians.
• In a "Pearls Before Swine" strip, Latsis uses the term "throw another shrimp on the barbie" and Pis is shown throwing shrimp at a Barbie doll.
• In the episode 7 Continents for 7 Koopas of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 When Cheatsy Koopa invades Australia he changes a man into a shrimp and says "We're throwing a shrimp on Barbie!".

[edit] Media