Laura and Rob are proud of Ritchie's increasing vocabulary...until he drops a profanity on the way to school. Rob has a heart-to-heart with him and extracts a promise not to say it again. However, the next day, he writes something different on the school blackboard. Increasingly angry, Rob decides to confront the family he believes is responsible.
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- Anti-Advice: Sally asks Buddy for advice about new shoes she's trying on...and then does the opposite. When Buddy asks why she even asked, she says she values his opinion, because he's got lousy taste.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Laura mentions Ritchie's new friend Tommy Kirk at breakfast, and Ritchie comments that Tommy uses words he doesn't understand. Three guesses where Ritchie keeps learning those words.
- Desk Sweep of Rage: Rob asks Sally about the sketch idea she had, promising that this time they won't interrupt. Sally gets as far as Alan picking up a Message in a Bottle and asks what they think it is. Rob, still worrying, says absently, "A bad word." Sally yells in Angrish and sweeps the stuff off Rob's desk in frustration.
- Door Slam of Rage: When Buddy slips in one last zinger as he exits, Mel tells Rob and Sally that what he's about to do isn't because of either of them and slams the door hard.
- Happy Dance: Rob does a dance when he comes into the office, pleased about how his talk with Ritchie went.
- Narrative Profanity Filter: Richie uses a profanity in the car, and later gets in trouble for innocently using a different word in school. Thanks to whispering and judicious cutting, the words themselves are never heard, but we can tell from Laura's reluctance and Rob's horrified facial reaction that they're whoppers.
- Not in Front of the Kid: While Rob is trying to figure out where Ritchie keeps learning these bad words, Mel asks him when Buddy last visited. Buddy snaps back that he doesn't swear in front of children, except for Mel.
- Running Gag: Sally keeps getting interrupted while trying to spin out an idea for the sketch.
- Swear Word Plot: The plot focuses on Ritchie learning a swear word and his parents agonizing over the incident and disagreeing about how to handle it. Laura wants to ignore it in the hope that he won't learn to say it for attention, and Rob wants to confront him and tell him how inappropriate it is. Tommy's father, a minister, agrees with the latter approach, but points out that they really can't keep everything negative away from their kids.
- You Are Fat: When Mel tells the writers to put something funny through the typewriter, Buddy yells after him that Mel is too tubby to fit. Mel expresses his rage by slamming the door.
