Marshall uses techniques given to him by his father to ensure that he and Lily's baby will be a boy, while Robin grows steadily more frustrated with her new co-anchor, Becky.
This episode provides examples of:
- Baby Talk: Robin's annoying co-anchor Becky talks in a cutesy little girl voice, something that oddly endears her to many men. Barney takes this as a challenge to talk like a little boy when picking up chicks, which only gets creepy.
- Black Comedy: When Marshall suggests the baby name "Jeremy", Lily flashes back to a scene involving one of her kindergarteners named Jeremy. In a Shout-Out to Pearl Jam's song and music video "Jeremy", about a young schoolboy who shoots himself in front of his classmates, a grunge-y song plays, Lily throws her hands up to cover her face and yells "Jeremy, no!", and she's splashed with a red liquid... which turns out to be paint.Lily: His work was so derivative.
- But Liquor Is Quicker: Implied when Claudia calls Stuart out on his drinking habit, and Stuart retorts that they wouldn't have conceived their new baby if it weren't for vodka.
- Call-Back: Turns out that the hand print Lily had on one of her breasts in the pilot was made by a kid named "Rob", and it's shown how it happened.
- Debating Names: In "Baby Talk," Marshall and Lily have started trying for a baby, but clash over baby name ideas. Lily turns down most of Marshall's names as the worst kids in her class have those names. Marshall also only considers boy names while Lily only considers girl names, causing them to also clash over what gender they want the baby to be.
- Dirty Kid: When Marshall suggests the name "Rob", Lily shoots it down because the kid touched her breast while doing a "honka honka". By the end of the episode, another kid named "Jamie" left two handprints on Lily's butt.
- Double-Meaning Title: "Baby Talk" refers to Lily and Marshall talking about their baby (i.e. what they'd name it and what gender they want it to be) as well as talking in a babyish voice as Becky and Barney do.
- Double Standard: It's discussed, and shown, in the episode that men find it hot when girls talk and act like children, but women get creeped out when men do the same. Barney takes this as a challenge to pick up a woman while talking like a little boy, which indeed is shown to creep out all but one woman, and even that woman ends up creeping Barney out. The Stinger reveals Ted realizing that Becky's behavior is actually pretty creepy, too.
- Gender-Blender Name: After realizing that both went to ridiculous lengths to avoid having a baby of the opposite gender, Marshall and Lily decide to give their baby some neutral name like "Jamie". The happiness doesn't last, as Lily also vetoes the name after one of her students got too handsy on her.
- Grandma's Recipe: A variation. Marshall's father tells him about techniques he and their ancestors have used to ensure they conceive sons, including eating specific foods. Marshall thinks it's ridiculous, only relenting when his father points out there hasn't been a female Eriksen born in at least three generations.
- Science Is Wrong: Marshall's father believes this regarding conceiving children of a specific sex as he, his father, and grandfather all avoided conceiving a daughter while using their techniques.
- 10-Minute Retirement: Barney is so disappointed that he couldn't pick up a girl with baby talk that he lacks the confidence to take on any new pickup challenges. However, he very quickly gets his mojo back when he meets a woman with a mommy kink, thus fulfilling the challenge.
- Uncanny Valley: Marshall's nightmare vision of his daughter as a stripper who ends up dating a Barney clone puts NPH in really weird makeup that makes him look heavily Botoxed and unnatural.
- Unfortunate Search Results: Lily admits she looked up "how to make a girl" online to find tricks to conceive a baby girl. She follows up with, "Some really weird stuff came up."
