"It's going to be legen - wait for it - dary!"
About this Quote
The intent is obvious: hype the moment, recruit the room, and make whatever comes next feel pre-approved as iconic. The subtext is darker and more revealing. Barney isn't just optimistic; he's manufacturing meaning on demand, padding over uncertainty with a scripted rhythm. "Wait for it" is a magician's misdirection and a coping strategy. It acknowledges doubt while refusing to dwell there. If you can keep the audience anticipating, you don't have to answer whether the plan is actually good.
Context matters: How I Met Your Mother arrived in an era when sitcom masculinity was being rebranded as ironic performance. Barney's swagger is knowingly artificial, and the line is a metronome for that persona - a man constantly branding his own experiences like they're destined to be meme-worthy. It also functions culturally as an early-2010s prototype of "main character energy": narrate your life like a trailer, and the world might follow your edit. The joke lands because it's both ridiculous and recognizable: everyone wants the promise without the risk, the legend without the waiting.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
|---|---|
| Source | Barney Stinson — catchphrase: “It’s going to be legen — wait for it — dary!” (recurrent line from TV series How I Met Your Mother) |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Stinson, Barney. (2026, January 15). It's going to be legen - wait for it - dary! FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/its-going-to-be-legen-wait-for-it-dary-172046/
Chicago Style
Stinson, Barney. "It's going to be legen - wait for it - dary!" FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/its-going-to-be-legen-wait-for-it-dary-172046/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"It's going to be legen - wait for it - dary!" FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/its-going-to-be-legen-wait-for-it-dary-172046/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.






