Legen – Wait For It – Dary: Barney’s 10 Best Catchphrases On How I Met Your Mother

As one of the biggest, most successful, and most beloved sitcoms of the 21st century thus far, How I Met Your Mother is a massively rewatchable show – if you can handle the finale – and has so much brilliance to remember it by. As probably the most developed character of the show, and undoubtedly the most iconic character from it, Barney Stinson is the source of much of this brilliance.

One significant thing Barney let out into the pop culture zeitgeist was a plethora of catchphrases that he used across the entire show. Some are hilarious, some are just very Barney like, and they are all great.

11 Honorable Mentions

As mentioned above, Barney has a lot of catchphrases, and he never really lets up with them, something his friends even point out to him.

“Patent pending” is a good one from Barney; he uses a fair bit. “Daddy’s home” is always fun to see, so, too, is “Stinson out.” Finally, “True story” is used a fair bit by the Barnstar and is unfortunate to miss out.

10 “What Up!”

Barney makes an incredible amount of jokes, quips, and comments, usually related to sex, suits, or awesomeness, and when he does so, he usually follows it up with a simple two-word catchphrase.

“What up!” can get combined with a high five, which, usually, will not get reciprocated, but often it is said alone following up a demeaning joke about women or Ted, and with Neil Patrick Harris, is always delivered excellently.

9 “Awesome”

Speaking of awesomeness, that word is the epitome of Barney’s outlook on life and is the minimum standard to which everything in his life gets held, always striving for every moment to be awesome.

It is also one of his most common catchphrases, getting brought down by the fact that “awesome” itself gets so often used in a variety of different ways, from awesomeness to other sentences incorporating awesome into them. It is an awesome catchphrase nonetheless.

8 “Just… OK?”

Barney is pretty much a compulsive liar. Not only does he make up elaborate deceptions to get women into bed, but just in general, he is continuously putting across fake facts and other bits of nonsense.

His friends usually rebuke him immediately, and this is the most common source of Barney’s “Just… OK?” as he pretty much pleads with his friends to go along with whatever he is saying and/or doing.

7 “Have You Met Ted?”

One of the first catchphrases fans got to love in How I Met Your Mother is one that was less of a catchphrase and more of a line but morphed into its own beast, used by other people, centering around others.

However, most commonly, and the original version, the line comes from Barney to Ted as Barney acted as an unwanted wingman with the simple yet great line “Haaaave you met Ted?”

6 “Suit Up”

Even before that famous line, though, there was a line that revolves around perhaps Barney’s number one love in life, challenged only by sex and magic, “Suit up!” is a way of life for Barney.

While it is rare for anyone to adhere to Barney’s relatively simple request, he will almost always be kitted out in the finest two-piece suits, and his love for them is both hilarious and, at times, heartwarming.

5 “… Five”

Similar to how “awesome” usually gets contorted to fit into various sentences at Barney’s disposal, Barney’s high five offerings are more often than not construed in some hilarious form.

There are high fives, but there is also “phone five”,  “tiny five”, “solemn low-five”, “arthritis five”, “claw five”, “high v”, “high six”, “the highest of fives”, “self-five”, and many more.

4 “I Only Have One Rule”

As was talked about earlier, Barney has a severe tendency to manipulate the truth, to exaggerate, and to pretty much make false claims, that bleeds into his adamancy that he only has one rule.

The fact of the matter is that Barney has a plethora of one rules. Never pet a chicken, never check a bag, never spell check, no cats, bang twice, dump once, the longer the line, the better the food, and so many more. Barney’s rules can be disgusting, are often hilarious, and can be straight-up random and weird.

3 “Please”

Barney’s job was one of the longest-running mysteries in the history of the show, finally getting revealed in the final season of the show. Up until that point, whenever asked about it, Barney said, “please.”

However, “please” was actually an acronym for “Provide Legal Exculpation And Sign Everything.” This was, of course, all part of Barney’s plan in working with the feds to take down Greg, and was a good reveal after a nine-year catchphrase.

2 “Challenge Accepted”

As awful as Barney’s pursuit of women gets at points, there are times where his dedication to being so sleazy is impressive, which is where the challenges come into play.

Barney, in pursuit of making life more interesting and awesome, will take anything put out there by his friends, with them never intending it as a challenge, and announce “challenge accepted.” These are often related to picking up women but can get taken much further than that.

1 “Legen- Wait For It -Dary”

As much as Barney exudes and presents awesomeness, there is a step after that which Barney will always aim for, for which he will always strive, and for which his friends always need to be there, “legen- wait for it -dary.”

Barney is always coming up with plans and schemes for him and his friends, always at a hundred, continuously seeking the high of the legendary night of the legendary moment. It is by far his most famous and most fitting catchphrase.