Catchphrases
In the show's pilot, Barney first utters his most recognizable phrase, "Suit up!", as he tells others to dress like him to go out. The phrase "Suit up!" came from an ad for a suit sale in a later episode about his past with Shannon. According to creator Thomas, this is a sign that Barney "thought of his suit as some kind of superhero outfit that separated him from the pack." The phrase is repeated in many episodes, and is often modified to fit whatever clothing Barney is wearing, such as "Flight suit up!" when telling Ted to be his wingman in Halloween or "Snow suit up!" when inviting Ted to build an igloo in Central Park, mid winter or when Ted is waiting for a woman at a Halloween party " I even penguin suited up for you!" or "Slut up!" when Robin and Lily go to a prom. Also when he was getting naked in Robin's apartment and she asked what he was doing he replied "birthday suiting up!" The phrase has also led to an International Suit-Up Day on Facebook. He used the phrase "law-suit up" in an episode in which Marshall passed the Bar exam.
Besides "Suit up!", he often describes schemes as "Legendary!". He also frequently intersperses the phrase "Wait for it" between syllables of a long word. The season two finale closed with Barney saying "Legen — wait for it...", and he opened season three with "...Dary!". Barney often changes his catch phrase slightly to suit his situation or for comic effect such as "It's gonna be legen — wait for it... and I hope you're not lactose intolerant because the second half of that word is DARY!" In the sixth season finale, Barney modifies his "legendary" catchphrase while arguing with Ted over which of them will push the button to demolish the Arcadian. Barney says that, since Ted will be standing beside him when he (Barney) pushes the button, Ted will be "Legen — wait for it... — dary adjacent. Legendary adjacent." This even leads to Marshall and Lily giving "Wait For It" to be their first child's middle name.
In the show Barney frequently approaches attractive women with Mosby in tow and asks "Haaaaaave you met Ted?" as a way to start a conversation with strangers. Thomas says that this phrase is based in real life, as a one-time friend of his often used a similar line to meet women. He is also prone to using "Daddy's Home" as either a chat-up line or for grand entrances and "True Story" as an ending to stories or theories that are generally erroneous.
Barney also will tell elaborate, outrageous stories or assert his own "awesomeness", followed by "True story"—especially when the story told is implausible. Also, whenever asked what his job is he replies with a little laugh followed by "Please." His brother James reacted similarly when asked how the two were of different races. Barney often makes up statistics in order to make his arguments sound credible. When he makes up a statistic, he always uses the figure 83%, which is not lost on his friends. When Marshall catches him and calls him out on these bogus facts, he begins his own catchphrase in having 'lawyered' (proven wrong) Barney.
Barney is very well-connected, and seems to know people who can help him procure any number of outlandish items or services. When he is questioned how he's gotten some unusual item for one of his elaborate schemes, he'll dismiss it by saying "I've got a ____ guy." For example, in "The Broath", Ted asks about a recording playing at Barney's apartment, and Barney says, "I got some local monks to record this -- Yeah, I got a monk guy." Barney even claims to have a "baby guy" in "The Rebound Girl" when he procures a baby girl so that he and Ted can practice being surrogate parents, although the child is revealed to be Barney's niece, whom he had been babysitting.
Barney states: "When I get sad I stop being sad and be AWESOME instead. True story!" in episode 1, season 2, when talking about Marshall and how sad he is. At one point Barney catches a cold and tell this to Robin: "Whenever I start feeling sick, I stop being sick and be awesome instead." This is something he calls "mind over barney."
Barney is frequently asking for high-fives in different variations, similar to Todd Quinlan in Scrubs. 'Relapse five', 'Phone five', 'Cell Five' 'Tiny five', 'Freeze-frame high-five', 'hypothetical high-five', 'wordplay five', 'arthritis five', 'self five', 'foot five', 'claw five', 'solemn low-five', 'door five', 'Motility-five' and 'high-six' are a few. In his early life as a hippie, he only gave "high twos" (peace signs).
After he makes a double entendre or issues a putdown, Barney typically exclaims "What up!" while attempting to high-five whomever he is speaking to.
Barney often uses the phrase "Challenge accepted" in earlier seasons when someone mentions something that supposedly cannot be done. It is usually quickly followed by "the challenger" telling Barney they were not remotely challenging him, but Barney ignores this. This can be seen in "Aldrin Justice" when Marshall mentions his mean constitutional law professor, Barney calls her a cougar and accepts the challenge to tame her. In Murtaugh when Ted mentions the "Murtaugh List" can not be completed, Barney accepts the challenge to do everything on it. In "As Fast As She Can" Barney takes the challenge of talking his way out of a ticket by saying "Challenge accep...", leaving out the last syllable and replacing it by pointing at Ted. In "The Window" Barney challenges himself to pick up a woman while wearing overalls, whilst in "Baby Talk" he challenges himself to pick up whilst only speaking like a little boy. This is the only time he admits to a failure to complete a challenge, though he later manages to pick up a woman whilst speaking like an eight-year-old without even trying.
Another phrase often used by Barney is "Get your head out of your ass, Lily." This phrase is often heard when Lily presents a point Barney interprets as overly idealistic or naive. A variation of this is seen in the song, "Nothing Suits Me Like A Suit" in "Girls Versus Suits."
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