Why do Americans call a grill a barbecue?

Not all Americans do. Those that do do so only when referring to an outside grill (i.e., a barbecue grill). The actual term is "barbecue grill," which differentiates it from grills of other types, like the flat, flameless grill with a smooth stainless steel surface Wendy's uses to cook its hamburgers on.

So, the term being "barbecue grill," some people call it that, but then some people truncate it to just "grill" while others truncate it to just "barbecue."

By the way, it's not just some Americans that call a barbecue grill a barbecue. It's also nearly all Australians, though Australians typically abbreviate it to just "barbie" (i.e., Let's go outside and cook some steaks on the barbie.).

Finally, do realize that what you call "barbecue" derived from the term "barbecue grill," not vice versa. When you say, "We're going to get some barbecue," "barbecue" referring to the food itself, know that it getting called that came from what it's cooked on: a barbecue grill. You act as if the term is being stolen or misappropriated by people to refer to something else, something other than the food, but in reality, people have appropriated the term "barbecue" for the food from the term "barbecue grill," that which its cooked on. So if anyone's wrong, it's people using the word "barbecue" to refer to food, not people using the world "barbecue" to refer to an outside grill.

good question LOL

Because the American South doesn't have a monopoly on cooking with fire on a grill.

On a much smaller scale, what people are doing when they cook meat on a grill over fire and baste it with a sauce or is accompanied by a sauce is bar-b-queing.

By your reasoning, why does Olive Garden call itself Italian Food? It's so far from authentic Italian it may as well come from another planet, but people still identify it as Italian food...

Short slang for Bar-Beer & C Barue or pool. Slop is on the grill for those who can stagger to it. Barbeerque is correct way to pronounce it.

aussies got this

Its just the way it is.

Also, on my stove I have a grill, in America its called a broiler.

Have just a tad too much time on your hands, do ya?

I'm from the Mid West.

If I am cooking over charcoal, I am "BBQing."

If I am cooking with propane, I am "cooking out" or "grilling out."

I may or may not use BBQ sauce in either case.

I refer to both the charcoal grill and the propane grill simply as "a grill."

Although "Barbecue" has a literal meaning more like you describe in your question it has become a generic term for cooking outside and having a get together.

and in the north it means something different. ?