On 29 October 2001 the
Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported:
Snap. That’s the sound of the stretch between family and work for an awful lot of parents. John Howard says the balancing act between the two is the most common discussion at any neighbourhood barbecue. A ‘barbecue-stopper’, he likes to call it. That’s why he is attempting to put the extra sizzle into his election campaign with a new tax break for women having children.
A
barbecue stopper is a topic of conversation that is interesting or controversial enough to halt proceedings at a barbecue—and anything that could interrupt an Aussie barbecue would have to be very significant indeed!
It is fairly rare for us to know who coined a new term. Most new terms emerge without an author. But with
barbecue stopper we know that it was coined by former Australian Prime Minister John Howard in the context of balancing work pressures with family responsibilities.
For some time it looked as if the term might remain exclusively linked to the work/family nexus. If that had occurred, it is likely that the term would have been short-lived, and would have disappeared from Australian English.
But by 2004
barbecue stopper could be used in a variety of contexts to signal a significant topic:
Sibling rivalry is the new barbecue stopper—at least in my circles. We are talking about our own grown-up brothers and sisters. It's the rivalry that re-emerges when adult siblings have to make important decisions about ailing parents. Sydney Morning Herald 20 November 2004
Indeed, by 2007 the term could be used in a context where its creator, John Howard, was now the ironic butt of his own invention:
And Hicks will be presented as a symbol and as something of a martyr, even though he is about as heroic as cancer. It is an interesting example of Howard failing to detect early a significant public mood and do something about it. It might not be a barbecue stopper, but certainly is a front-bar head nodder: Tell fellow drinkers that Hicks is a mongrel but deserves better treatment and you will get agreement. Daily Telegraph 8 February 2007
The evidence indicates that
barbecue stopper is a stayer in Australian English, and has earned a place in our dictionaries.
