Conan O'Brien hilariously attempts local slang during Australia special
A (comically) threatening message from Australian superstar Hugh Jackman sent Conan O’Brien down under.
“There’s an old rule in show business,” O’Brien told his audience during Wednesday night’s special episode of Conan. “When Hugh Jackman tells you to do something, you do it.”
The talk show host then played a video from the Aussie actor, in which the Logan star made clear his intention to see O’Brien’s recurring Conan Without Borders travel segment visit his homeland.
Admittedly out of fear, O’Brien obliged, and his first order of business in the region’s largest city, Sydney, was to learn the local dialect via lessons from a voice coach — and the results are disturbing on multiple levels. For starters, he learned that the phrase “shrimp on the barbie” — commonly associated with Australia — is a verbal inaccuracy.
“We don’t say ‘shrimp,’ [we say] ‘prawns,” the coach tells him (on top of revealing that Australian-brewed Foster’s Lager isn’t popular in the country). “No one says ‘shrimp.'”
Conan (attempting his best Australian accent throughout) then learned how to pronounce slang words, including “Accadacca” (Australian for “AC/DC”), “budgie smugglers” (“Speedos”), “dag” (“nerd or geek), and “f— me dead” (translation: “that surprises me.”).
Watch Conan attempt his best Australian accent in the video above.
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