I was really confused when I visited the US and ordered anything "BBQ". What you'll end up being served is a wild guess. To me, barbecue is a method of cooking that gives a beautiful, naturally smoky flavour with nice charred indents from the hot metal. It seems in the US it's mostly just a sauce. I was so disappointed to order BBQ chicken breast, expecting a beautifully grilled piece of meat, only to be handed what seemed to be oven cooked chicken swimming in sugar! Blergh! Even if they did cook it on an actual barbecue, it was always slathered in that awful sugary sauce.  Just give me my plain barbecued meat, bitches! Not everything needs to be drenched in sugar!!