THE OFFICIAL NERDFIGHTER LEXICON

Over the past 7+ years, Nerdfighteria has developed quite a unique vocabulary. And we know, we know, sometimes it's hard to keep track of it all. That's why we've created the Nerdfighter Lexicon! Compiled and authored by dozens of nerdfighters, below you will find the most comprehensive dictionary of Nerdfighter-specific terms, phrases, and definitions -- from An Abundance of Katherines to Zombicorns!

Any text that is underlined denotes that there is a lexicon entry for that word/phrase.

A  -  B  -  C  -  D  -  E  -  F  -  G  -  H  -  I  -  J  -  K  -  L  -  M  -  N  -  O  -  P  -  Q  -  R  -  S  -  T  -  U  -  V  -  W  -  X  -  Y  -  Z


A

  • Abundance of Katherines, An - (n.) John's second novel. Published in 2006 by Dutton and Speak. A finalist for the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award.
  • Accio Deathly Hallows - (n.) A song by Hank, which was featured on the front page of YouTube (when that was a thing) in July 2007. This greatly increased the number of subscribers to the vlogbrothers channel. Contains surprisingly accurate predictions about the plot of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The wrock band Harry and the Potters have taken to encouraging Hank to play the song as often as possible.
  • Acronym - (n.) An abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word. (e.g., PIN - personal identification number). Not to be confused with an initialism.
  • Acrophobia - (n.) The irrational fear of heights, from which John suffers. He once stood on a table, in order to secure $5000 for charity. He also went onto the froghopper.
  • Aero Fighters - (n.) A videogame that John discovered in an airport arcade. He mistook the name to read Nerd Fighters, hence the name of the Nerdfighter community. For his birthday in 2013, Hank gave John his own stand up Aero Fighters cabinet. It currently resides in the office in Indianapolis.
  • AFC Wimbledon - (n.) The real life football/soccer team that the Nerdfighters sponsor. Its ground is called Kingsmeadow, and is located in Kingston upon Thames, London. Its manager is Neal Ardley and it is currently situated in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. Founded 30th May 2002.
  • AFC Wimbledon Wimbly Womblys - (n.) The team John currently manages on hankgames when playing FIFA. Advertizing proceeds from the videos go to sponsor the real-world, fan-owned team, AFC Wimbledon. Players include Callum Kennedy, Seb Brown, Ya Bamba and both Bald and Other John Green.
  • Agloe, NY - (n.) A “paper town” or “copyright trap” that became real when someone built a general store in the place it wasn’t. It was part of the inspiration for John’s third book, Paper Towns. Agloe, unfortunately, no longer exists.
  • Airports - (n.) All look the same, most containing grey speckled walls. John, and to a lesser extent Hank, spend quite a lot of time in airports, usually making people think that they’re crazy by vlogging in public.
  • Alan Lastufka - (n.) Co-founder/owner and developer of DFTBA Records with Hank.
  • Alaska Young - (n.) Character in John’s book Looking for Alaska. Known for being the best prankster at Culver Creek and having a room full of books. The love interest of Miles Halter.
  • Alice Green - (n.) John and Sarah Urist Green’s daughter, sister to Henry Green, born June 3, 2013. Was almost named by the president of the United States, Barack Obama.
  • All I Am Saying Is Give Peeps a Chance - (n.) Sung by Hank during his punishment in which he had to give out Peeps to strangers on the street.
  • All Star In Our Hearts - (n.) When John was little, he played tee ball. When he failed to make the all-star team, his parents gave him a trophy, the only trophy he got as a kid, saying he was an "all star...in our hearts.”
  • Alvin Lorus - (n.) The protagonist of a story John wrote at age 8, titled It Just Isn’t Fair. He is unpopular and goes on a journey to try to make friends. According to the author’s note in the story “many of the happenings in this story are true.” The story was first read on the vlogbrothers channel by Hank.
  • Ambrosia - (n.) The nectar of the gods; however, in John novel Looking For Alaska, it is actually a mix of milk and vodka hidden away in a milk bottle in a mini fridge to avoid suspicion, despite the fact that if anyone were to smell it, the concoction would be easily discovered.
  • Amsterdam - (n.) Capital city of the Netherlands, setting for a part of The Fault in Our Stars, and one of John’s favorite cities. He, Sarah and Henry lived there for a few months in 2011 while John finished writing The Fault in Our Stars.
  • Anagram - (n.) A word or phrase that is created by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase. Featured in An Abundance of Katherines. Hank anagrammed the names of United States presidential candidates in 2007 and 2011, ostensibly to determine whom to vote for in the upcoming elections.
  • Anglerfish - (n.) Otherwise known as the “Hanklerfish”, a symbol of Hank’s when John signed his 150,000 copies of The Fault in Our Stars, and also the subject of Hank Green’s song, “A Song About an Anglerfish”. These are often drawn in a distinctive cartoon-style way by Hank.
  • Ansel Elgort - (n.) The actor who portrays Augustus Waters in the movie adaptation of John’s book, The Fault in our Stars.
  • Art Assignment, The - (n.) A YouTube channel hosted by John’s wife Sarah and John himself. Different contemporary artists around the country give out art assignments for the viewers to fulfill and share with the rest of the community.
  • Augustus Waters - (n.) The love interest and secondary main character in John’s The Fault in Our Stars.

B

  • Banana Pants - (adj.) A term frequently used by John to describe something that is crazy and/or absurd. Often abbreviated to “That’s bananas!”
  • Beckoning of Lovely, The - (n.) A pProject by Amy Krouse Rosenthal in which she beckoned lovely into the world. On 08/08/08, John, Hank, and Nerdfighters gathered at the Bean in Chicago to take part in the first Beckoning event.
  • Beer Sword - (n.) A sword made of beer cans that Ben, a character in John’s third book, Paper Towns, glues to his hand.
  • Bernie Su - (n.) Co-Creator of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries along with Hank. He also served as Executive Producer, Director, and Head Writer for the show. Co-founder with Hank of Pemberley Digital, and Executive Producer and Director of Welcome to Sanditon and Emma Approved.
  • Best Wishes - (n.) A sign-off once used by John at the end of an important phone call. As it is not commonly used, he was not happy once he realised what he had done. His response has been to use it as often as possible in order to bring it into the vernacular.
  • Black Santas - (n. plural) Depicted in John‘s novel, Paper Towns. Literally, Santa memorabilia in which Santa is depicted as black (i.e. of African descent). One of the main characters, Radar, has parents who are obsessed with collecting as many as possible and hold the record for the most black Santas. Also the name of a song about Paper Towns by Nerdfighter and friend of the vlogbrothers, Lauren Fairweather.
  • Blenderized Foods - (n. plural) Originally appeared as a punishment for John on the vlogbrothers channel in 2007. John had to eat an entire McDonald’s happy meal that had been blended into mush. Nerdfighters often celebrate John’s birthday by blenderizing and eating cake and ice cream or other delicious birthday concoctions.
  • BlogTV - (n.) Website on which people can live broadcast and viewers can comment and interact. Used early on by the vlogbrothers before Google+ Hangouts to stream tour stops and discussions.
  • Blurbing Book Club - (n.) A book club where those who have read the specified book summarize it in 10 words or less (occasionally in lolcat form); entries are then put to a vote to determine the winners.
  • Bobble John - (n.) A bobble head modeled after John; 500 were created and sold on DFTBA Records in August 2009.
  • Book Eight - (n.) A song written by Hank on the anniversary of Accio Deathly Hallows advocating for JK Rowling to write the next Harry Potter book.
  • Books Belong to Their Readers - (n.) A saying John uses frequently, often abbreviated to “BBTTR”, meaning that the author has no more information about a book than the reader does, that is, what’s actually in the book. This also means that, ultimately, control of the characters and future plot is given to the audience/reader and they can interpret the story in any way that is consistent with the source material. This is perhaps a modernization, or a more accessible way of explaining Roland Barthes’s theory, ‘The Death of the Author’, and a book specific version of the idea that “there is no privileged perspective on art”.
  • Brain Crack - (n.) The phenomenon that occurs when you have so many ideas floating around in your brain that it kind of makes you crazy. A good way to get rid of them is to get them out into the world. An idea lovingly ripped from Ze Frank’s video by Hank.
  • Brain Scoop, The - (n.) A natural sciences channel hosted by Emily Graslie, edited by Michael Aranda, filmed and edited by Tom McNamara, and kickstarted originally by Hank. Originally set in the Philip. L. Wright Zoological Museum at the University of Montana, The Brain Scoop currently films out of The Field Museum in Chicago.
  • Brotherhood 2.0 - (n.) The name of the first year of videos on the vlogbrothers channel. In 2007, John and Hank decided to go one year without textual communcation (sic). Instead, they would vlog to each other, each uploading a video every other day (except for weekends). The result? All of this.
  • Brotherhood 2.0.0.9 - (n.) The new name of Brotherhood 2.0 for 2009.
  • Brotherhood 2.1 - (n.) The month of October in 2008 in which John and Hank were punished by doing Brotherhood 2.0 style videos for the month. They were required to make a video every day, and Song Wednesdays returned.
  • Brothers on a Hotel Bed - (n.) This song by Death Cab For Cutie was used in the intro of Brotherhood 2.0 videos. Hank chose it after searching Limewire for “brothers.”
  • Bufriedo - (n.) A deep-fried bean burrito served in the Culver Creek cafeteria in Looking For Alaska. A favourite of Alaska Young’s. Best served one day old.

C

  • Cameo - (n.) Hank’s cat.
  • Cat Licking - (n.) One of John’s punishments wherein he had to go to a Nerdfighter’s friends’ house to lick their cat, Toby.
  • Charlie McDonnell - (n.) A fellow YouTuber (charlieissocoollike) and friend of the brothers. John has said that Charlie is his favourite YouTuber.
  • Chewbacca - (n.) Star Wars Wookie who John believes should run for president alongside Han Solo who would be his vice president and chief translator; originally discussed in a 2009 video.
  • Child Prodigy - (n.) A child who is very skilled in some regard, often in chess, music, or general intelligence, like Colin Singleton in an Abundance of Katherines.
  • Chin Waxing - (n.) One of John’s first punishments. He attempted to wax his chin; this resulted in bleeding and quite a bit of pain.
  • Chip Martin - (n.) The main character’s roommate and friend in John’s first novel, Looking for Alaska. Know more commonly as the Colonel.
  • Colin Singleton - (n.) Main character and narrator of John’s second novel An Abundance of Katherines. As the title of this book suggests, Colin has dated quite a few girls named Katherine, all spelled the same way.
  • Communcation - (n.) (sic) Misspelling of the word communication found in the intro to Brotherhood 2.0 videos because there’s no ‘i’ in brotherhood (also Hank couldn’t get the animation to work right with the i).
  • Conjoined Twins - (n.) One of John’s areas of expertise. He reviewed many books for Booklist magazine about conjoined twins. He also owns more books about conjoined twins than there are conjoined twins currently living - even when you count each twin separately.
  • Context Is Everything - (n.) A good rule for life, also what John says any time he makes an accidental (or purposeful) innuendo.
  • Corndogs - (n.) A hotdog on a stick, covered in cornbread batter and deep fried. Often a traditional food at state/county fairs, or whenever Hank can get his hands on them. Hank’s favorite food.
  • Cows - (n.) A game played during a car ride. Whenever you see a cow, you yell cow. The first person to call cow gains a point, and the highest point-earner wins. John typically loses to The Katherine.
  • Crash Course - (n.) A YouTube channel run by John and Hank that includes educational video series covering Sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Ecology, Psychology), History (World and U.S), and Literature. It was started up with a grant from YouTube and is now funded through a subscription service at Subbable.

D

  • Daniel Biss - (n.) Resident mathematician and member of the Illinois State Senate. He created and wrote the math behind An Abundance of Katherines. He is called upon whenever the Greens, mainly John, need help with math during their videos.
  • Dave Green - (n.) The third Green brother and first secret sibling who is less successful than his brothers and may or may not actually exist. Conceptualised by tumblr user cybergum in January 2014. Spoken about by John in a video later that week. Also mentioned in this Question Tuesday video.
  • David Foster Wallace - (n.) Writer most famous for his novel Infinite Jest whose work has had a big influence on John (and, John argues, on Young Adult books as a whole).
  • David Levithan - (n.) A friend of John, YA writer, and co-author (with John) of Will Grayson, Will Grayson.
  • Decepticon - (n.) Opposite of a Nerdfighter, AKA someone who frequently forgets to be awesome and increases worldsuck.
  • DFTBA - (initialism) Don’t Forget To Be Awesome. The motto of the Nerdfighters: we try to live never forgetting to be awesome. Can also stand for other things, as seen in Hank’s song DFTBA.
  • DFTBA Records - (n.) A record company co-founded by Hank Green and Alan Lastufka, created to let YouTubers reach their audiences more easily and receive royalties for their work. Also the website selling merchandise from YouTubers. John is a co-owner.
  • DFTVA - (initialism) Stands for “Don’t Forget to Vote, America,” an initiative by the Vlogbrothers and Harry Potter Alliance that encouraged people to take pictures of themselves doing the nerdfighter sign outside their polling place, or with their ballot. Not to be confused with DFTBA.
  • Dooblydoo - (n.) The description section of a YouTube video, also known to be the “about” section on YouTube videos for links and further information. E.g.: “links are available in the dooblydoo.” Coined by Craig “WheezyWaiter” Benzine.
  • Double on Call and Other Stories - (n.) A collection of 4 short stories by John produced as a Project for Awesome perk in 2012. The stories form a prototype for the book John was trying to write for 10 years; which then eventually became The Fault in Our Stars.
  • Dumpee - (n.) One who is dumped. Antithesis of a dumper. People are generally one or the other. John was a chronic dumpee. A term expounded upon in John’s novel, An Abundance of Katherines.
  • Dumper - (n.) One who dumps. Antithesis of a dumpee. People are generally one or the other. A term expounded upon in John’s novel, An Abundance of Katherines.

E

  • Eat Five Sheets of Toilet Paper While Discussing the Political Situation in Nepal - (n.) In the third vlogbrothers video, John attempted to do this and failed. Hank also has a shirt of this.
  • EcoGeek - (n.) A website created by Hank in college that focuses on environmental technology. It has since become the umbrella company under which many other projects by John and Hank operate.
  • Edward Spoonhands - (n.) Hank’s tumblr, named after a live show on BlogTV in 2008 where Hank and The Katherine decided to see what it would be like if they taped spoons to their fingers. They made themselves spoonhands people, called Edward and Edwina Spoonhands (sometimes called spoonfingers instead of spoonhands). And then Hank wrote a song about it.
  • Effyeahnerdfighters - (n.) A Tumblr blog dedicated to all-things Nerdfighteria. It is run by members of a Nerdfighter friend group called Catitude. Also known as FYNF.
  • Ellen Hardcastle - (n.) One of Hank’s albums, named after a Project for Awesome donor who then named her album after Hank Green.
  • Emily Graslie - (n.) First featured by Hank in a vlogbrothers video and is now the host of The Brain Scoop. Originally worked as a volunteer at the Philip. L. Wright Zoological Museum at the University of Montana. She is now the Chief Curiosity Correspondent for The Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois.
  • Emma Approved - (n.) An adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel Emma in the form of a series of video blogs that follows lifestyle coach and professional matchmaker Emma Woodhouse, her company partner Alex Knightley, and assistant/Event Coordinator Harriet Smith.
  • Esther Day - (n.) Esther Earl’s birthday, August 3rd. A day which acts as a sort of Valentine’s Day for non-romantic love (eg. friendships, families, etc.) in honor of Esther Earl, chosen by her when asked by John. On this day, Hank and John openly, if hesitantly, say “I love you” to each other.
  • Esther Earl - (n.) A Nerdfighter and YouTuber who met John at a LeakyCon in 2009 and helped inspire John in his writing of The Fault in Our Stars. She sadly died of thyroid cancer in August of 2010, but exemplifies so many of the values that Nerdfighteria holds dear. See also This Star Won’t Go Out.
  • Evening of Awesome, An - (n.) A show held at Carnegie Hall on January 15th, 2013, celebrating the one-year anniversary of the release of The Fault in Our Stars.
  • Everyone Poops (In My Pants) - (n.) A grave tragedy about the conundrums of a man (Hank Green) who is cursed with the need for everybody to poop in his pants. Inspired by the book Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi.
  • Evil Baby Orphanage - 1. (n.) In an early vlogbrothers video, John and Hank were discussing what to do if you got access to a time machine: Do you go back and kill baby Hitler, or would it be ethically wrong to kill a baby who has yet to hurt anyone? A Nerdfighter, Brooke, came up with the obvious solution: you kidnap baby Hitler and put him in an orphanage, specifically created to raise evil people as good people. 2. (n.) A card game, based on (1), now available on DFTBA Records.

F

  • Fake John Green - (n.) A fake dailybooth account set up which posted embarrassing photoshopped pictures of John. It was later revealed to have been run by Karen Kavett. While the original account has disappeared, you can still see all the pictures in on Karen’s site.
  • Fat Sandwich - (n.) A punishment food for John, composed of strawberry-flavored protein and pure Crisco fat served on a hamburger bun.
  • Fault in Our Stars, The (TFiOS) - 1. (n.) John’s fourth solo book. Published in 2012, by Dutton Books. 2. (n.) A major motion picture set to be released June 6 2014, directed by Josh Boone and starring Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, and Nat Wolff.
  • FIFA - (n.) A soccer/association football video game. Played by John on Hankgames Without Hank, first as the Swindon Town Swoodilypoopers, then the AFC Wimbledon Wimbly Womblys.
  • Fishing Boat Proceeds - (n.) A section on the American tax return which John wishes to have filled in at some point in his life. To date he has not. It is also the name of John’s Tumblr.
  • Fitness Challenge - (n.) In 2009, Hank and John (and nerdfighters) were supposed to participate in a series of challenges that promoted healthy activity. It never really took off.
  • Fitness for Nerds - (n.) One of John’s punishment videos in which he makes a workout video, working out the entirety of the nerd body. He does so in a cutoff sweater, a fox headband, green leggings, and purple women’s shorts.
  • Flipping the Pipple - (v.) A term used in the Hank and Katherine play Lego Hanky Potter on Hankgames. It refers to doing nothing of importance (usually holding up your collaborator in a two-person game).
  • Florence Foster Jenkins - (n.) A questionably talented opera singer who dared to suck and played Carnegie Hall.
  • Foreign John Green Books - (n.) Editions of John novels that are in a different language. The cover will often depict either girls, feet, or both, and they are always pronounced incorrectly by the author. Because John owns so many of them, he at one point created a battle between the foreign editions of Looking for Alaska.
  • Foundation to Decrease World Suck - (n.) A 501(c)3 charity dedicated to decreasing WorldSuck. It is also referred to as the bank of Nerdfighteria, and gets a large portion of its funds from the Project for Awesome.
  • Fox Hat - (n.) An item of headgear owned by the character Takumi in Looking For Alaska -- Takumi’s proclamation that “no one can catch the motherf***ing fox” has inspired Nerdfighters to create their own fox hats. The fox hat was also seen in a few vlogbrothers videos.
  • French the Llama (FTL) - (n.) An exclamation one makes when completely and utterly excited (eg. “French the Llama! That’s awesome!”). The phrase came into an existence during the Project for Awesome 2010 when John didn’t know what FTL stood for. Kristen, a nerdfighter, told him that it was short for “french the llama.” John is trying to make this a “thing,” but according to Hank, he has not succeeded.

G

  • Giant Squid of Anger - (n.) What John becomes when an idea or attitude is completely ridiculous. This also happens to many other people on the internet, especially in YouTube comments. Portrayed by screaming and flailing.
  • Giraffe Sex - (n.) Vlogbrothers videos which feature giraffe sex in the thumbnail are typically more viewed than videos which do not. This has prompted a Giraffe Love t-shirt.
  • Good Morning ____, It's ___day -  (n.) Typically the intro to any vlogbrothers video (eg. Good morning, Hank, it’s Friday). Occasionally it’s yelled by a crowd of nerdfighters (at gatherings, events, etc) in place of John or Hank. Also the inspiration for one of Hank’s earliest songs.
  • Google Verb Meme - (n.) An internet meme popularlized on YouTube by Hank and Michael Aranda in which you enter your name followed by a verb into Google and see what the suggested searches are.
  • Grapefruit - (n.) A stupid, incompetent, silly, or foolish act or person. (ex: John calls himself a grapefruit after the "hectare" mispronunciation--"It's one thing to look like a grapefruit in front of Nerdfighteria") Used as an insult, often self-deprecating.
  • Great American Tour de Nerdfighting, The - (n.) The name given to the vlogbrothers 2008 tour of America, see also Tour de Nerdfighting.
  • Great White Wall of Cow, The - (n.) An obstacle encountered in the road trip portion of John’s novel Paper Towns.
  • Grey Speckled Walls - (n.) Appear in airports. In ALL airports.
  • Guilt Free Three - (n.) Someone in your “guilt free three” is someone you could hook up with given the opportunity without the act being deemed adultery. First mentioned as a free pass list. Helen Hunt is on Hank’s list. Judy Blume is on John’s list.
  • Gus is a Bug - (n.) A children’s book that John remembered having as a child, and that Nerdfighters recreated. The original book was eventually located despite John having misremembered the title.
  • Gussie Audrey Manlove - (n.) A name that appears on a headstone in the Knightstown, Indiana cemetery. First seen in February of 2011, in a video by John. Her identity was discovered soon after. Resulted in Nerdfighteria finding her history and various name changes.
  • Gutshot, Tennessee - (n.) A fictional location which is purported to house the remains Archduke Franz Ferdinand and where Colin Singleton and Hassan Harbish visit on their road trip in An Abundance of Katherines.

H

  • Hair For Hazel - (n.) A hair donating campaign sparked by Shailene Woodley’s decision to donate hers to Children With Hair Loss after cutting it short to play Hazel Lancaster in the Fault in Our Stars movie.
  • Hank Green - (n.) (See also Who the eff is Hank?) One half of the vlogbrothers. Also known as the brother of the author, John Green. Majored in Biochemistry in college, now a YouTuber, entrepreneur, and musician. He is John’s third favourite band behind The Mountain Goats, The Mountain Goats, and in front of John’s fourth favourite band, The Mountain Goats. Hank has had a major list of achievements including VidCon, 2D Glasses, EcoGeek, SciShow, Crash Course, and many more, all of which can be read about on his website.
  • Hank Green and the Perfect Strangers - (n.) Hank’s band with Andrew Huang, Joe DeGeorge, and Rob Scallon. Their first album, Incongruent, was released May 6, 2014. First featured in “I have a band?”
  • Hank Sock - (n.) A sock puppet version of Hank, not frequently seen.
  • Hankgames - (n.) YouTube channel dedicated to “Let’s Play”-style videos, featuring Hank, The Katherine and John, sometimes playing solo with guest commentaries or in teams.
  • Hankgames Without Hank - (n.) John’s usurpation of Hankgames to play FIFA first as the Swindon Town Swoodilypoopers and then the AFC Wimbledon Wimbly Womblys.
  • Hanklerfish - 1. (n.) An Anglerfish drawn by a Hank. Hank Green invented it and has drawn them on a portion of The Fault in Our Stars signature pages. The animal became associated with Hank because of his Song About An Anglerfish. 2. (v.) To draw a Hanklerfish.
  • Hanko de Mayo - (n.) The fifth of May, celebrated as Hank’s birthday. A play on words of Cinco de Mayo (term no longer used, having been deemed culturally appropriative).
  • Hankroll’d - (n.) This video, performed as a punishment by Hank. His designated punishment was to dress up as Carrie Bradshaw, a character from Sex and the City.
  • Hankschannel - (n.) A secondary YouTube channel used by Hank to post videos that he does not post on the main vlogbrothers channel.
  • Happy Dance - (n.) A dance which expresses happiness. The exact movements vary from person to person.
  • Harry and the Potters - (n.) The first Wizard Rock or Wrock band, fronted by brothers Joe (also a member of Hank Green and the Perfect Strangers) and Paul (co-founder of the Harry Potter Alliance) DeGeorge.
  • Harry Potter Alliance, The (The HPA) - (n.) A charitable organization focused on fighting for human rights and social justice using the most powerful weapon we have: love. Thanks to the help of Nerdfighteria, they were the recipient of the 2010 Chase Community Giving grant of $250,000.
  • Hazel Grace Lancaster - (n.) The main character and narrator of John Green’s book, The Fault in Our Stars.
  • Headdesk - 1. (v.) To bang one’s head against one’s desk to signal frustration. 2. (n.) The act of headdesking. Used by John in question answering videos. On one Question Friday, a non-question said, “Your headdesk was lame,” to which John responded by trying to headdesk better and giving himself what may or may not have been an actual concussion.
  • Hectacre - (n.) A term John used repeatedly in his video on food production in third world countries. The term he meant to use was “hectare,” a unit of land, but since then, “hectacre” has become synonymous with an honest but cringe-inducing mistake only discovered after the fact.
  • Healthcare Triage - (n.) A YouTube channel set up by John in light of the controversies surrounding Obamacare. Dr. Aaron Carroll discusses issues including Obamacare and medical myths.
  • Hectic Glow, The - (n.) A fictional indie band first mentioned in John’s book The Fault in Our Stars which now has a small following of fans who have created a Hectic Glow Facebook fanpage and Hectic Glow merchandise. However The Hectic Glow has yet to create a single track because the group does not exist. Also an original possible title for TFiOS, after a quote from Henry David Thoreau, “Decay and disease are often beautiful, like the pearly tear of the shellfish and the hectic glow of consumption.”
  • Helen Hunt - 1. (n.) An American actress (b. 1963) in Hank’s “guilt free three.” 2. (n.) A song by Hank in which he waxes lyrical about his obsession. Helen Hunt responded via Twitter.
  • Henry Green - (n.) John’s incredibly adorable first child. Older brother of Alice Green. Born January 20th, 2010, as celebrated by Hank here. First video appearance here.
  • Hitler and Sex - (n.) Two examples of “stuff that people enjoy”, according to a producer who once talked to John about creating a television show. In response, John made a “pilot” combining the two topics.
  • Holden Caulfield Hat - (n.) A people-hunting hat worn by both John and the fictional character Holden Caulfield. John also has to deal with its tassel.
  • How to Adult - (n.) A series of instructional videos teaching the life skills that adults need, but have never been taught in school. The show is hosted by Emma (Elmify) Mills and T. Michael (Mike) Martin. John and Hank are executive producers.
  • Humpy Hank - (n.) Hank humping things. Originally appeared when Hank visited the Googleplex and humped their sign. This has been gif’d and added to other objects, becoming a meme. Also made into a fanvid that John later uploaded. As a punishment, Hank had to hump things around Missoula, Montana.
  • Hungry Games, The - (n.) In honor of the movie release of The Hunger Games, Hank and Michael Aranda hosted their own Hunger Games. They played Hungry Hungry Hippos while hungry themselves, having not eaten for the better part of a day, then made cookies with either tasty or disgusting food baked inside. The second year of the Hungry Games welcomed a new competitor, Emily Graslie of The Brain Scoop, and involved brownies and a magnetic fishing game. The Hungry Games is now an annual event.
  • Hypochondria - (n.) The irrational belief or fear that one suffers from, or is at significant risk of, a wide range of uncommon diseases. John is a hypochondriac since taking a class in emerging diseases in college.

I

  • I Am Not An Octopus - (n.) A popular question for Question Tuesday is “Are you an Octopus?” to which John normally counts his limbs and says that he is not an octopus. He then proceeds to wonder if he is an octopus with four limbs amputated, then throws himself against a wall to see if he will stick to it like an octopus. He concludes that he is not an octopus. Also an effective tactic to (not) demolish a wall.
  • I F***ing Love Science - 1. (n.) A science-news focused Facebook page and YouTube channel run by Elise Andrew. 2. (n.) A track on Hank Green and the Perfect Strangers’ debut album, Incongruent, named after (1).
  • I Love You - (n.) A phrase of endearment not exclusive to romantic love. On Esther Day, to honor her, Hank and John tell each other “I Love You,” in an extraordinarily begrudging manner.
  • Ilene Cooper - (n.) An author and editor at Booklist who John refers to as his “fairy godmother” and mentor. She helped him publish his first novel Looking for Alaska, launching his writing career.
  • Imagine Others Complexly - (n.) A theme throughout Nerdfighteria, including John’s novels, in which we are encouraged to imagine others deeply and complexly. It means recognizing that others are more than what they seem with many different facets and therefore more like ourselves that we ever imagined.
  • "Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia" -  (n.)A much quoted phrase from Alaska Young in Looking For Alaska. The phrase was originally said by The Yeti on her first date with John, although this is not a widely known fact.
  • Imperial Affliction, An - (n.) A fictional novel written by (fictional) author Peter van Houten; Hazel’s favourite book in The Fault in Our Stars. It is written in the voice of a young female cancer sufferer, Anna, and notably ends mid sentence with no explanation. It is quoted for the epigraph of TFiOS, redolent of the epigraph of The Great Gatsby, which is also a fictional quote. John said that to him it represented an amalgamation of Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, and The Blood of the Lamb by Peter de Vries.
  • In Your (or My) Pants - (n.) The idea that adding “in your pants” onto the end of any book title will make it ten times more hilarious (e.g. A Storm of Swords...In Your Pants, The Sun Also Rises… In Your Pants, Looking for Alaska...In Your Pants). Conceived by John’s author friend and secret sister Maureen Johnson.
  • Incongruent - (n.) The first album of Hank Green and the Perfect Strangers, released May 6, 2014.
  • Indian Springs School - (n.) The boarding high school that John attended. His experiences there are the basis for Culver Creek School in Looking for Alaska.
  • Indianapolis, Indiana - (n.) John’s current city of residence. It’s where his episodes of Crash Course & Mental_Floss, along with Healthcare Triage, are produced.
  • Initialism - (n.) An abbreviation as a word where you pronounce each letter. Eg. pronounced “D-F-T-B-A,” not “dift-bah”. Not to be confused with an acronym.
  • Internerdial Dating - (n.)When a Nerdfighter and non-Nerdfighter are dating. See Nerdfighterlike.
  • Is Hank Green Awesome? - (n.) Yes. This question arose when Hank tried googling himself in a video and wasn’t auto-completed, so he requisitioned Nerdfighters to google “Is Hank Green Awesome?” so that it would autocomplete.
  • Isaac - (n.) A character in John’s The Fault in Our Stars. Best friend of Augustus. He is played by Nat Wolff in the movie adaptation.
  • It Just Isn’t Fair - (n.) A novel by John, written at the age of 8. It features Alvin Lorus, a self-proclaimed wimp who befriends his “vice-versa,” Rick. In a shocking turn of events, it is revealed that Rick’s father has died. The novel was read live at Leaky Con 2011.
  • It’s a Metaphor - (n.) Part of a(n extraordinarily pretentious) quote from Augustus Waters in The Fault In Our Stars, which became a meme.

J

  • January 1, 2007 - (n.) The first day of Brotherhood 2.0. Hank records a video at a party in a very ominous way.
  • John Green - (n.) Half of the YouTube channel Vlogbrothers, father of Henry and Alice, husband to Sarah and brother to Hank. New York Times bestselling YA author of Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns, The Fault in Our Stars and co-author of Will Grayson, Will Grayson and Let It Snow.
  • Jokes - 1. (n.) Told by Hank Green in several videos, there is a playlist with all of the videos. His current record (as of April 2014) is 54 jokes in less than four minutes. 2. (adj.) A substitute for cool, i.e. That Pizza John shirt is so jokes.
  • JScribble - (n.) John’s signature. Also his rapper name. Was coined by Marion the Nerdfightarion.
  • Judy Blume - (n.) An author who is admired by John to such a degree that he added her to his Guilt Free Three. John’s admiration for Judy Blume is often compared to Hank’s devotion to Helen Hunt.

K

  • Kafir - (n.) A not-nice word for non-Muslim person, used as an affectionate term for Colin Singleton by Hassan Harbish in John’s novel An Abundance of Katherines.
  • Karen Kavett - (n.) Long time nerdfighter, YouTuber, and graphic designer who has done design work for the Green brothers, including designs for P4A, Vidcon, 2D Glasses, and John’s books box set & website. She was also the mastermind behind Fake John Green.
  • Katherine, The - (n.) Hank’s wife, Katherine Green. She occasionally appears in Hankgames, SciShow, and vlogbrothers videos. Her rarely-updated YouTube channel is elfkwest.
  • Kenyon College - (n.) John’s Alma Mater and the site of much of his development as an adult and writer.
  • Ketchup Pee - (n.) The orange or pink liquid that comes out of the bottle when attempting to squeeze out ketchup. Can be used as an insult.
  • Kiva.org - (n.) Microfinancing organization which facilitates small, crowd-funded loans to entrepreneurs in the developing world. To date the Nerdfighter team has made over 130,000 loans through this organization, to the tune of nearly $4,000,000.
  • Kurt the Punk Rock Nerdfighter - (n.) A Nerdfighter Hank found while completing his punishment of giving away Peeps on the street. Kurt was very nice to Hank and set the Peeps-eating record of 12 Peeps in a minute and a half.

L

  • Labyrinth of Suffering - (n.) How Alaska Young refers to life in Looking for Alaska. It is a reference to Gabriel García Márquez’s novel The General in His Labyrinth. She asks “how we will ever get out of this labyrinth of suffering?” and answers “straight and fast” while Pudge answers “to forgive.”
  • Lauren Fairweather - (n.) Musician and Nerdfighter who has done songs with Hank and John and has her own YouTube channel. She specialises in wrock music.
  • Lauren Myracle - (n.) A YA author who collaborated with John and Maureen Johnson on the book Let It Snow, a collection of three short stories.
  • LeakyCon - (n.) A Harry Potter convention established in 2009, which John and Hank regularly attend. John met Esther Earl at the 2009 convention. Hank often performs his wrock songs there.
  • Lemon - (n.) Hank’s dog, a retired racing greyhound whose racing name was Tina Fey.
  • Let It Snow - (n.) A YA novel, consisting of a collection of three linked holiday romances: The Jubilee Express (Maureen Johnson), A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle (John Green), and The Patron Saint of Pigs (Lauren Myracle).
  • Lindsey Doe, Dr. - (n). Clinical sexologist and presenter of Sexplanations.
  • Lizzie Bennet Diaries, The - (n.) An Emmy winning modern-day vlog-style adaption of Jane Austen’s novel Pride & Prejudice. It aired on YouTube from April 9th, 2012 - March 28th, 2013. Hank Green is the co-creator and executive producer.
  • Looking For Alaska - (n.) John’s first published novel (2005, Dutton Juvenile). Winner of the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award.
  • Love - 1. (n.) Feeling of strong attraction to a person or thing, classically categorised into 4 types: agape (deep and spiritual), eros (physical and passionate), philia (mental or platonic), and storge (affection and familial). Agape and eros are major themes in John’s books, whilst storge is only discussed on Esther Day (See I Love You). 2. (v.) To exhibit feelings as above, either mentally or physically. The physical expression of eros is also called skoodilypooping.

M

  • Made of Awesome - (adj.) Emphasizes the goodness of Nerdfighters; when they do something which is particularly special, they will be described as “made of awesome.”
  • Manic Pixie Dream Boy - (n.) Male version of Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Augustus Waters, in The Fault in Our Stars, has been mistaken for one.
  • Manic Pixie Dream Girl - (n.) A one dimensional female character, the sole purpose of whom is to rejuvenate the jaded male protagonist, often with love. They usually are removed from the story after they have changed the protagonist forever. Many of John’s books are the antithesis of this concept, though some readers mistake his characters for Manic Pixie Dream Girls.
  • Map of the Realm of Narnia - (n.) In the beginning of the vlogbrothers, Hank owned a map that depicted the realm of Narnia, a world from C.S. Lewis’s famous series The Chronicles of Narnia. It hung on a wall in the background of many videos.
  • Margo Roth Spiegelman - (n.) Character in John’s 2008 novel Paper Towns.
  • Marion the Nerdfightarion - (n.) Also known as MarionHoney When John entered a bookstore and signed his name in a copy of Maureen Johnson’s Girl at Sea, a Nerdfighter called Marion went to the same store, hunted down the book, bought it, and filmed herself doing it. She commented about John’s signature looking more like a “JScribble”, thus coining the term. Hank made a remix of Marion’s reaction.
  • Matthew Gaydos - (n.) DFTBA Records warehouse worker and host of the DFTBA Warehouse show on the channel dftbarecords. Can also be found on his own YouTube channel.
  • Maureen Johnson - (n.) “AKA Actual John Green” The bestselling YA author of such books as 13 Little Blue Envelopes, Suite Scarlett, and the Shades of London trilogy and secret sister (see Secret Siblings) to the vlogbrothers. She wrote Let it Snow with John and Lauren Myracle. One of John’s writing partners when he lived in NYC. Organiser of LeakyCon Lit. Inappropriate texter during live videos. Owner of a Tumblog, an official blog, and a twitter.
  • Me from the Past - (n.) John’s interpretation of his past self who he instructs during Crash Course videos.
  • Mental_Floss - 1. (n.) A magazine that both John and Hank have written for in the past. 2. (n.) A YouTube channel where John and various guest YouTubers host a weekly trivia show.
  • Meredith Danko - (n.) Associate producer (formerly intern) on Crash Course (History and Literature). She also works on Mental_Floss and Hankgames without Hank.
  • Metaphor - (n.) John is well-known for these in his writing. Popular on Tumblr for a “drizzle/hurricane metaphor,” from Looking For Alaska (see Peopleraindrizzlehurricane). Also well known for a cigarette metaphor from The Fault In Our Stars (see It’s a Metaphor).
  • Michael Aranda - (n.) A good friend of the Green brothers. He assists with the production of The Brain Scoop. He is also a host on SciShow, does sound design and script supervising for Crash Course, and occasionally helps out with the DFTBA warehouse. He has a youtube channel and a daily vlog channel.
  • Mike Green - (n.) John and Hank’s father, a documentary filmmaker for government and a non-profit nature preservation organizations. He currently handles much of the accounting and financial documentation for John and Hank’s business ventures and is the mastermind behind the TFiOS preparedness pack. See his first appearance in a vlogbrothers video.
  • Miles Halter - (n.) Main character and narrator of John’s first novel, Looking for Alaska whose love interest is Alaska Young. He goes by the name Pudge.
  • Missoula, Montana - (n.) A city in mountainous terrain in the western United States. Current hometown of Hank Green, The Katherine, DFTBA Records, Subbable, VidCon, the studios for SciShow and Hank’s Crash Course seasons, and lots of employees of the aforementioned projects.
  • Mongols, The - (n.) The exception.” From Crash Course World History, as a commonly recurring theme in generalizations. Also on a t-shirt available from DFTBA Records.
  • Mountain Goats, The - (n.) John’s first, second, fourth, and fifth favourite band. For John’s third favourite band, see Hank Green. They performed with John and Hank at An Evening of Awesome.
  • Movie Magic - (n.) Flashy video editing, including the sudden appearance of a vlogbrother in a different location than the one in which they began filming the video, is highlighted by the exclamation of this phrase, particularly in the early videos. Jump cuts are not uncommon.
  • My Little Pony - (n.) Small horse toys marketed at young girls; they were a favourite of Hank’s when he was growing up (he doesn’t have a favorite pony). Can also frequently be seen in the background of John’s videos.

N

  • NaNoWriMo - (n.) National Novel Writing Month. November, when many people attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in 1 month. John penned Zombicorns during NaNoWriMo in 2010.
  • Nat Wolff - (n.) An actor who plays Isaac in the movie adaptation of The Fault in our Stars and who has been cast as Quentin Jacobsen in Paper Towns.
  • Nerd Factor - (n.) A contest first used by Michael Buckley as Buck Factor, appropriated by the vlogbrothers first in 2011, and used again in 2013, for which the two winners made videos on the vlogbrothers channel during John’s paternity leave.
  • Nerd Glasses - (n.) The thick, black-framed glasses that John wore in early Vlogbrothers videos. He broke them after falling face first into the Baltic Sea. The glasses were sold on eBay in 2009 to raise money for the Project for Awesome.
  • Nerdcrafteria - (n.) The name of the Nerdfighter Minecraft server.
  • NerdFArt - (n.) Art created by Nerdfighters about Nerdfighteria. NerdFArt is regularly featured in a special segment of The Warehouse, though it is sometimes forgotten.
  • Nerdfightastic - (adj.) Describing something which is awesome, and so worthy of Nerdfighteria.
  • Nerdfighter - (n.) Someone who, instead of being made out of bones and organs and stuff, is made entirely out of awesome. How do you know if you’re a Nerdfighter? If you want to be one, then you are. (To clarify - a Nerdfighter does not fight nerds. A Nerdfighter fights for nerds.) Term coined after John played an arcade game called Aero Fighters in an airport in video. The font used in the game made the words “Aero Fighters” look like “Nerd Fighters”.
  • Nerdfighter Art - (n.) A tumblr dedicated to Nerdfighter-related art which has helped organize the creation and collection of art by Nerdfighters to be donated to the Project for Awesome as perks.
  • Nerdfighter Book Club - (n.) A book club in which any and all Nerdfighters can take part. It has a history of running for one book, before being forgotten for a year and a half. Books read have included Fahrenheit 451, The Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, and Behind the Beautiful Forevers.
  • Nerdfighter Gathering - (n.) When Nerdfighters come together in a particular place to do a sundry of things together, such as visiting museums, ice-skating, or gathering in a park. John and/or Hank may or may not be in attendance. Find a gathering near you here!
  • Nerdfighter Lexicon - (n.) A comprehensive dictionary of Nerdfighter terms and language, collaboratively put together by dozens of nerdfighters. It is included on nerdfighteria.com as part of an orientation landing page for new and potential nerdfighters. (It’s what you’re reading right now! Ahh!)
  • Nerdfighter Notes - (n.) Notes, advertising Nerdfighteria, that Nerdfighters slip into John’s books (or other books) at bookstores or libraries. They were invented by Kristina Horner.
  • Nerdfighter Sign - (n.) A gesture where both hands, doing Vulcan salutes, are crossed in front of the chest. It’s often used as a way for Nerdfighters to identify themselves to one another.
  • Nerdfighteria - (n.) The place where Nerdfighters hang out. Its exact location is not known (possibly Winner, South Dakota?), but contains within its bounds, if it has any (See No Edge), vlogbrothers and associated channels, the Ning, Our Pants, and anywhere where awesome is being done, and worldsuck is reduced.
  • Nerdfighterlike - 1. (n.) A state of mutual attraction between Nerdfighters which can be platonic or romantic. 2. (n.) A song by Lauren Fairweather, covered by Hank and Katherine.
  • Neutral Milk Hotel - (n.) An indie rock band featured in the book Will Grayson, Will Grayson. Known for their song Holland, 1945 in the book. Also mentioned in TFiOS.
  • NeverFTBA - (n.) Never Forget To Be Awesome, an expression that plays off of DFTBA, was a YouTube channel used by Hank during the scavenger hunt many years ago.
  • News Sunday - (n.) John’s equivalent of Song Wednesday during 2009, as stipulated on Jan 1st, 2009. John would have to explain clearly and comprehensively a current event of which Hank was probably ignorant. This stemmed from earlier videos like Eat five sheets of toilet paper while discussing the political situation in Nepal, and lead to a tradition of such videos, including ones about Israel, Syria (Hank), and Ukraine.
  • Nicholas Jenkins - (n.) Producer, director, and editor of Sexplanations and all Crash Courses hosted by Hank.
  • Ning, The - (n.) A Nerdfighter forum which used to be the main hub of Nerdfighteria. Now the location of the Nerdfighter chat and Nerdfighter groups.
  • Ningmaster - (n.) A moderator of the the Ning. John first created the term in this video.
  • NIT - (n.) An acronym for Nerdfighter in Training, mentioned by John in the Brotherhood 2.0 video dated July 2nd, 2007.
  • No Edge - (n.) After learning that the universe probably has no edge, Hank began annoying John by repeatedly saying “Dude, No Edge”. Also mentioned in “The Universe is Weird”.
  • Nonexistent Nerdfighter Prize of the Day - (n.) Given in the way of recognition, or “shout out”, to someone who has caught John or Hank’s eye usually by exceptionally increasing awesome or decreasing worldsuck.
  • Notsome - (adj, n.) The opposite of awesome. Decepticons are made of this.

O

  • Obama Llama Duck - (n.) A song made by Hank as a parody of the popular Llama Song by Burton Earny to show their support for Obama’s first presidential campaign.
  • Obamasidiots - (n.) A YouTube channel where Hank and John tried to get more political and raise money for the Democratic party through Daniel Bliss and Barack Obama.
  • Okay? Okay. - (n.) Possibly the most famous quote out of John’s The Fault in our Stars. It is said by the two main characters, Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus Waters, to each other many times throughout the book.
  • Omnictionary - 1. (n.) The Wikipedia-esque site used extensively by Radar, a character in John’s Paper Towns. 2. (n.) Hank claimed the URL omnictionary.com. It was a functioning wiki where nerdfighters collaboratively wrote stories, but the site was eventually deleted for unknown reasons. An archived version of the site is viewable here.
  • Open Letter - (n.) A recurring segment in many of John’s Crash Course episodes. One of the themes of a given episode is summarised by John authoring an open letter to a historical person, character, place or concept; this is visualised by addressing an object found in the Secret Compartment.
  • Orbital Cellulitis - (n.) Inflammation of the eye tissue contracted by John in March of 2007.
  • Our Pants - (n.) The current Nerdfighter forum that came to be after the old forum (Your Pants) was overrun by hackers and spam.

P

  • P4A - (n.) Initialism for Project for Awesome.
  • Paige Railstone - (n.) A fictional DJ made up during a BlogTV show by John and Nerdfighters including Alan who made the website, Karen who created her image, and Paige. John uses Railstone’s identity to discuss whether made up things are real. A test for whether she was real was whether the AI 20Q could guess her.
  • Paper Towns - 1. (n.) John’s 3rd book. Published in 2008, Dutton Books. Debuted at #5 on the New York Times bestseller list. Won the 2009 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Young Adult mystery. 2. (n.) Towns which are fictional, created by map publishers to prevent and track copyright fraud (see Agloe, NY). John discusses Paper Towns (and paper towns in general) in his Tedx talk.
  • Party Blower Solo! - (n.) The solo (played by various party blowers) that Hank plays in the song "The Man Who Throws The Tetris Piece". It was John’s ringtone for a while.
  • Paternity Leave - (n.) A period after the birth of John’s children when other YouTubers, Maureen Johnson in 2010 and Hannah Hart, Grace Helbig, Wheezy Waiter, Rosianna Halse Rojas, and two Nerd Factor winners in 2013, host videos in John’s place.
  • Peanut Butter Face - (n.) A reference to videoblogger Ze Frank where John answers questions with peanut butter on his face. Sometimes used to make educational videos more engaging.
  • Peeps - (n.) An American marshmallow treat most commonly eaten at Easter. Many early Vlogbrother videos were dedicated to stuffing as many of them as possible into your mouth and handing them out to strangers. Thankfully not the same ones.
  • Pemberley Digital - (n.) Hank and Bernie Su’s company, named after the Pemberley estate owned by Fitzwilliam Darcy in Pride & Prejudice. The company is dedicated to retelling classic tales and produced the Emmy award-winning Lizzie Bennet Diaries and Welcome to Sanditon. They are currently producing Emma Approved and soon to be Frankenstein, M.D.
  • Pennies - (n.) The smallest monetary valued currency in the United States. They are worth 1/100 dollars, they are made of copper and zinc, and have Abraham Lincoln on the heads side and the Abraham Lincoln memorial on the tails side. As of 2014, it costs 1.83 cents to make one penny. John hates them with a passion, even telling this directly to President Barack Obama.
  • People in the ____ think that I’m crazy - (n.) Usually sung in an airport. Originated from a Vlogbrothers video in which John talked to his camera in an airport and received strange looks.
  • Peopleraindrizzlehurricane - (n.) A tumblr dedicated to artwork based on the wildly popular quote from John’s first book Looking for Alaska: “If people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane.” Occasionally referenced by John in videos.
  • Peter Van Houten - (n.) Character in The Fault in our Stars. He is the author of An Imperial Affliction, the novel referenced heavily by Hazel and Augustus.
  • Phalanxifor - (n.) A fictional drug created by John. The drug was mentioned in John’s book The Fault in Our Stars. It was used to keep the tumors in Hazel’s lungs from growing.
  • Phineas Gage - (n.) A man who had an iron rod go through his skull and brain and survived. Subject of a song by Hank. Also pictured on the cover of Ellen Hardcastle.
  • Pizza John - (n.) A popular Nerdfighter shirt created by nerdfighter Valerie Barr. A picture of John, from the 5 seconds he had a moustache, with the word pizza under it. John found it in a Facebook group entitled “John Green is Fat”. He wasn’t sure why he liked it, but he knew he wanted it on a t-shirt. Posters, socks, and occasional other merchandise (especially during the “12 days of Pizzamas” around Christmas-time), are available from DFTBA Records.
  • Poe Bust - (n.) A small bust of Edgar Allen Poe (the Edgar Award) awarded to John in 2009 for his book Paper Towns, an event which would prompt the author to put the statue on his head, to dress it up in clothes and large sunglasses, to waterboard it, and to do a number of other strange things to it, all whilst singing, “What could you do with a Poe bust?” It is not known whether the awards committee regrets their decision. He has not been given another one.
  • Poop in the Nintendo - (n.) A longstanding mystery from the Green brothers’ childhood: was the culprit Hank or Red Green? See here, here, and here.
  • Positive Pranking - (n.) Pranking someone in a way which increases awesome. See John’s original video here and Hank’s response here.
  • Price of Dawn - 1. (n.) A fictional video game mentioned in TFiOS. 2 (n.) Book series. One of the perks for the 2013 Project for Awesome was an excerpt of the Price of Dawn.
  • Project For Awesome (P4A) - (n.) A charity event that has taken place every December 17 since 2007. Created by John and Hank, the Project for Awesome attempts to take over the YouTube homepage and fill it with videos about charity. Anyone who wishes can make a video about a charity of their choice and upload it to YouTube. For the 48 hours of the P4A, everyone likes, shares, and comments on these videos in order to raise money which will be given to select charities at the end of the event. In 2013, the P4A raised a total of $869,171 which was then donated to twenty charities.
  • Puff - (n.) The voluminous mess of hair that often occurs from running hands through one’s own hair from stress. Coined by John for good reason.
  • Puff Fight - (n.) When two puffs come together and try to annihilate each other. Warning: can lead to headbutts.
  • Puff Levels - (n.) A way to measure your current stress level, introduced by John. He would run his hands through his hair when stressed and make his hair incredibly tall and puffy. Therefore high stress = tall puff.
  • Punishment - (n.) If Vlogbrother rules are broken (i.e. a video is longer than four minutes, or failure to post the video on time), Nerdfighters may choose a punishment for the offending brother to perform which must be completed within 1 week. Wives have veto power.
  • Puppy Sized Elephants - (n.) John asked evolution to make puppy sized elephants because they would have the evolutionary advantage of being adorable. In January 2008, he posted a video admitting that natural selection (through insular dwarfism) did in fact give us puppy-sized elephants… thousands of years ago.

Q

  • Queen Ranavalona I - (n.) Queen Ranavalona was the head of the kingdom of Madagascar in the 17th century. Known for being terrible, mortality rates were high during her reign. First mentioned by John, she was the subject of one of Hank’s songs. A candidate for entry into the Evil Baby Orphanage.
  • Question Tuesday - (n.) The day that John answers real questions from real Nerdfighters. Rarely uploaded on Tuesday.

R

  • Racket, The - (n.) a working title for the book John is in the process of writing. During the 2013 Project for Awesome, an excerpt of the story was offered as a perk.
  • rAndoM CaPitalizaTion - (n.) From Paper Towns. Margo Roth Spiegelman is a believer in Randomly capitalizing words Within a sentence Which one normally wouldn’t And vice versa.
  • Read It First - (n.) Hank’s braincracked idea for people to pledge to read the original books before consuming a movie-version. The website’s tagline is “Don’t let the movie ruin the book.”
  • Red Green - (n.) A dachshund dog owned by the Green family when John and Hank were young. See Poop in the Nintendo.
  • Regular Sized Squid of Rational Debate and Source Citation - (n.) Antithesis of giant squid of anger.
  • Rest In Awesome - (v.) Equivalent of Rest In Peace for Made of Awesome nerdfighters. Coined by John at the death of Esther Earl.
  • Rosianna Halse Rojas - (n.) John’s current assistant and awesome YouTuber in her own right.

S

  • Sad Dance - (n.) Opposite of a Happy Dance. Really, it’s more of a morose swaying than a dance.
  • Sarah Urist Green - (n.) John’s wife, aka The Yeti. Formerly the curator of contemporary art at the Indianapolis Museum of Art; current host of The Art Assignment. Called “the Yeti” because while she is often referenced, and is believed to exist, she is never seen on camera in vlogbrothers videos.
  • Scavenger Hunt - (n.) An internet (and occasional RL) wide scavenger hunt orchestrated by Hank and John in 2007.
  • Schrödinger and the Maybe Dead Cats - (n.) The Maybe Dead Cats is a fictional band from Will Grayson, Will Grayson, whose name was derived from Schrödinger’s thought experiment that states if you put a cat in a box with a chemical that (depending on the alignment of the particles in the space) could or could not kill the cat, until you open the box, the cat is both alive and dead.
  • SciShow - (n.) An educational YouTube channel about science and fascinating places/animals/concepts. The channel features a talk show featuring different guest stars and a news show about various new scientific discoveries. Hosted by Hank and other friends of Nerdfighteria.
  • SciShow Space - (n.) A separate SciShow channel dedicated to all things celestial.
  • Secret Compartment - (n.) A small cabinet space above the fireplace in John’s Crash Open Letter, or (in the US History season) the ‘secret document’ which John must guess who the author is.
  • Secret Project - (n.) Super Secret Projects, often undertaken before one of the brothers’ birthdays. The specifics of the projects are communicated via email after signing up to a Super Secret Mailing List.
  • Secret Siblings (Sister/Brother) - (n.) Nerdfighters that made video responses to John and Hank’s videos back during Brotherhood 2.0 were called Secret Siblings. The logic goes that as the videos were sent between the two brothers, any other people who responded to them must also be their sibling, but their existence had been kept secret. Not to be confused with Dave Green.
  • Sequel, The - (n.) A story that John had been working on after Paper Towns, but was later scrapped; he wrote The Fault in our Stars instead. John does say that aspects from The Sequel were incorporated into The Fault in our Stars.
  • Sexplanations - (n.) A sex education YouTube channel by Dr. Lindsey Doe, directed by Nick Jenkins, and executively produced by Hank.
  • Shailene Woodley - (n.) The actress who plays Hazel Grace Lancaster in the film adaptation of The Fault In Our Stars. Yes, she has read the book, but it’s only her second favourite after 1984.
  • Shakespearean Insult - (n.) An insult created by William Shakespeare written in his works. Much better than the uninventive turkey twizzlers that masquerade as insults these days. Discussed by John and subject of the Hank Green song, “Undigested Lump”.
  • Sharpie Face - (n.) A way that John occasionally entertains viewers by covering his face with multiple colours of Sharpie. Also done when a goal is reached (such as during the Project for Awesome).
  • Sidebar - (n.) The now-defunct version of the video description to which Hank and John pointed, usually in the incorrect direction, in most of their early videos. (See dooblydoo.)
  • Signing Psychosis - (n.) The insanity one experiences when signing too many things. John experienced this while signing pages for The Fault In Our Stars. Symptoms include crazy eyes and poor fashion sense.
  • Sing-a-ma-jig - (n.) A children’s toy which makes music when pressed. John became somewhat obsessed and gained great musical skill on them after buying some for his son, Henry, and intends to create an orchestra of Sing-a-ma-jigs. John the Sing-a-ma-jig player, and again.
  • Singleton - 1. (n.) A formerly conjoined twin. 2. (n.) The surname of the main character in John’s book An Abundance of Katherines.
  • Sitzpinkler - (n.) German, literally “one (male) who urinates sitting down”, used as an insult against Colin Singleton throughout An Abundance of Katherines.
  • Skoodilypooping - (v.) Euphemism for sex / making out / kissing and such, similar to but very different from nerdfighterlike. Origin: Nanny Green (John & Hank’s Grandmother).
  • So Jokes - 1. (adj.) A phrase adopted by Nerdfighters to replace “so cool” e.g. “VidCon last year was so jokes!” or “Did you see the latest episode of Doctor Who? It was so jokes!”. 2. (n.) Hank’s first music album, full of funny and nerdy and basically awesome songs.
  • Song About an Anglerfish, A - (n.) One of Hank’s songs… about an anglerfish. Its full name is “The Anglerfish Song Regarding Human Mentality In Respect To How To Interpret Perpetually Felt Emotions While Educating You On The Subject Of Anglerfish.”
  • Song of Myself - (n.) A poem by Walt Whitman featured prominently in Paper Towns.
  • Soon - (n.) Catchphrase given to the mascot of The Brain Scoop, culminating in its name “Soon Raccoon”. Given on account of ominous stares in the earlier episodes.
  • Soon Racoon - (n.) A racoon on The Brain Scoop who expresses soonness.
  • Song Wednesdays - (n.) During Brotherhood 2.0, Hank was challenged with writing a song and performing it for each of his Wednesday videos (i.e. every fortnight). Song Wednesdays returned for a month during Brotherhood 2.1 and towards the end of 2010.
  • Space Pasta - (n.) John and Hank pondered which is more energy efficient: flying to the moon, picking up a load of pasta and shipping it back, or growing a cow to produce beef. They ask Nerdfighteria to use their awesome powers to answer this for them.
  • Sparks Fly Up - (n.) An email address often used by John when interacting with Nerdfighters. John explains the reason behind the name: “Man is born to trouble like the sparks fly upward.” Job 5:7.
  • sparksflyup - (n.) An early YouTube channel owned by John, which was last updated in February 2008 and presently has 10 uploaded videos. John uploaded his first vlogbrothers video to this channel by accident, and his January 10th Brotherhood 2.0 video.
  • S.S. DFTBA - (n.) One of four planes with medicine and water that went to Haiti as a result of Nerdfighteria’s contributions to the Harry Potter Alliance’s fund to help Haiti after the earthquake. Because of Nerdfighteria’s large donations, one of the planes was named in honor of it.
  • Staff Pork Chop Party Fund - (n.) A running joke on the Mental_Floss show John hosts, in which a quarter is deposited in a hard-to-reach piggy bank at every mention of swine, however vague.
  • Stan Muller - (n.) The director, producer, and editor of John’s Crash Course episodes. Often addressed off-camera by John.
  • Stay Curious - (n.) The encouragement with which Dr. Lindsey Doe closes each Sexplanations video.
  • Stefan Chin - (n.) A friend of Hank and Michael Aranda (who he met in second grade). He plays Super Mario on Hankgames, edits and produces SciShow, and appears in a Hankschannel video about sexuality. He also has his own channel.
  • Strawberry Hill - (n.) A cheap and horrible wine-type drink that appears prominently in John’s book Looking For Alaska. Also, Hank had to drink this wine blended with Peeps while performing a live concert as a punishment.
  • Stuff on Heads - (n.) Hank once noticed that life becomes so much happier when you put things on your head, a phenomenon he discovered while seeing a parent in a grocery store chastising her son for putting things on his head.
  • Subbable - (n.) A system, created by John and Hank, that enables Internet users to fund projects by content creators (such as YouTube shows and podcasts) while optionally receiving “perks” in return.
  • Swedish Hip-Hop - (n.) A love of John's, he incorporated it into The Fault in Our Stars. Afasi och Filthy are John's favourite Swedish Hip-Hop artists.
  • Swindon Town Swoodilypoopers - (n.) John’s virtual football (soccer in America) team when playing FIFA on Hankgames. The IRL team is the Swindon Town Robins, but John discussed skoodilypooping, where he wanted a name for the virtual team and thus Swoodilypoopers was coined as a portmanteau of skoodilypooping and Swindon. The team saw great success, but John was eventually fired as manager and has since gone on to manage the AFC Wimbledon Wimbly Womblys, which Nerdfighteria helps sponsor in real life. Prominent players include Fat Lucas, Leeroy Williamson, “One Size” Fitz Hall, and co-strikers Bald and Other John Green (née Bennet), teammates in life and in love.
  • Sydney Green - (n.) John and Hank’s mother, and goat soap maker. Extremely awesome lady. Has appeared in a few vlogbrother videos.

T

  • TFIOS - (n.) Pronounced Tif-ee-ose or Tee-fee-oss (words belong to their users), it is the abbreviation for The Fault in Our Stars. The book (written by John) is often, if not always, referred to as TFiOS in vlogbrothers videos.
  • There is No "I" In Brotherhood - (n.) In the phrase "365 Days of Textless Communication" in the original introduction to Brotherhood 2.0 videos, the word "Communication" was missing the letter "I". When asked about this in the reunion video "August 30th: A Secret Project for Nerdfighters" John replied "it's because there is no "I" in brotherhood." When Hank repeated "but why is there no "I" in communication?" John answered "because there's no "I" in shut the f*** up." It is a reference to the phrase "there is no "I" in team" used in sports to encourage teamwork.
  • They Might Be Giants - (n.) A rock band, the first thing both John and Hank liked together as kids (well except for their parents). Hank has covered a plethora of TMBG songs, and a poster featuring the band was featured prominently in early vlogbrothers videos.
  • This Is Not Tom - (n.) An unfinished work of fiction hidden within online puzzles (written by John and designed by Nerdfighter Alex Basalyga and Hank). See & navigate at ThisIsNotTom.Com.
  • This Machine Kills Fascists - (n.) A phrase featured in John’s book Paper Towns, originally on the guitar of the musician Woodie Guthrie. It is also on John’s MacBook in Crash Course. This sticker is also available on the DFTBA website here and here.
  • This Machine Pwns N00bs - 1. (n.) An homage to Woody Guthrie’s “This machine kills fascists” message on the artist’s guitar. This saying is painted onto Hank’s guitar, and Woody’s original appears prominently on John’s laptop that in Crash Course. 2. (n.) Hank’s album under this name (available from DFTBA Records).
  • This Star Won’t Go Out (TSWGO) - 1. (n.) The posthumously published memoir of Esther Earl. 2. (n.) A charity set up by Esther Earl’s parents in her honor which helps families affected by cancer.
  • This Part - (n.) Hank’s favorite part of John’s face. Located at the center of John’s right cheek near the jaw.
  • Thought Cafe (formerly Thought Bubble) - (n.) An animation company which contributes to Crash Course and some vlogbrothers videos.
  • Thoughts from Places - (n.) A type of video that John and Hank make whenever they go places. The videos are generally serious, consisting mainly of montage footage with voice-over, and ask us to consider the world we live in more carefully.
  • Tiny Chicken Disease - (n.) When tiny chickens get into your head. Their chirping causes headaches, their poo is often found exiting through the nose, and symptoms are exacerbated as they lay their eggs in your brain. In another video it has been mentioned that the nose poo observed during infection is actually “all of it [eggs and tiny chickens] oozing out your nose”. The exact nature of TCD is yet to be scientifically studied so either explanation could be presumed true, or perhaps the cause of the nose poo symptom varies case-to-case. (Also known as the common cold.)
  • Tiny Cooper - (n.) An ironically named giant of a boy in Will Grayson, Will Grayson, who is a musical creator and actor, an American football player, a good friend of one Will Grayson, and incandescently homosexual.
  • TOC - (n.) Abbreviation for The Other Colin who appears in An Abundance of Katherines. Unclear whether an initialism or an acronym.
  • Tobian - 1. (n. adj.) The name Hank chose (after a person named Toby hacked the fiveawesomegirls youtube channel) for the opposite of a Nerdfighter (now called a Decepticon). He suggested the title in this video; John later apologised, on Hank’s behalf, to all people named Toby, all people with the last name Tobian, and all remaining 22 residents of the island of Toby in the South Pacific. 2. (n.) The Tobian language, of which John learned several phrases at the behest of Nerdfighters. 3. (adj.) Relating to the island of Toby.
  • Tour de Nerdfighting - (n.) Name of the tours of USA (and Canada) involving a series of shows by John and Hank. Their route can be found here: 2008 2012.
  • Truth or Fail - (n.) A YouTube game show. Each video presents two facts that link to another video, if you click on the fact that is true, you get linked to the next two facts. Note that the channels has been inactive since March 2013.
  • Tumblypoos - (n.) The collective noun for users of Tumblr as coined by John. Other possibilities were Tumblrers, Tumblines, and Tumbloons.
  • 2D Glasses - (n.) One of Hank’s inventions. These glasses render 3D movies in 2D for people who get sick from or dislike watching 3D movies. John refused to invest because he did not think it would be successful, but they were. They can be purchased at dftba.com.

U

  • Ulcerative Colitis - (n.) A medical condition Hank suffers from and needs medication for. (See Warner Chilcott) Also a song Hank wrote about the condition.
  • Uncultured Project, The - (n.) A project in Bangladesh created by nerdfighter Shawn Ahmed. The Uncultured Project is not a charity, but a mission and experiment in community. He has worked along side of charities such as Save the Children USA and has helped build wells, build schools, provide school supplies, and helped with relief efforts after natural disasters. John explains how it started in this video, and Shawn’s work can be seen here.
  • Unicorn - (n.) A mythical horse creature with a single straight horn protruding from its head. The national animal of Scotland, it is hated by John who claims “it was left off the ark for a reason”. The importance of unicorns is much disputed among Nerdfighters.
  • Use Your Words - (v.) A phrase which John often uses towards his son Henry, but is also used to describe how one should commonly express their desires for another person.

V

  • Venn Diagram - (n.) In set theory, a drawing which represents the intersection of sets, such as cat owners, people John knows, and people in Indianapolis (See Cat Licking). Also the medium for a number of jokes in, and as a result of, The Fault in Our Stars.
  • VidCon - (n.) A YouTube convention founded by Hank and John in 2010, hosted annually in Anaheim, California.
  • Vlog - 1. (n.) A portmanteau of video and blog, a blog post in video form. 2. (v.) To make a vlog.
  • Vlogbrothers - (n.) The name of Hank and John’s main YouTube channel. See A Brief History of the Vlogbrothers.
  • Vlogbrother Rules - (n.) The rules which govern how a vlogbrothers video is made. If the rules are broken, the offending vlogbrother is given a punishment by the other. As per the rules, videos must not be longer than 4 minutes; however, educational, musical, and montage videos do not need to adhere to this rule. Also, videos must be uploaded on schedule.

W

  • Water.org - (n.) A charity organization with which Hank has worked and traveled. Often a recipient of donations from The Project for Awesome.
  • War for Banks Island, The - (n.) Sequel to Zombicorns. Written by John for P4A 2011, the novella stars the son of the main character in Zombicorns.
  • Warehouse, The - (n.) Show on the DFTBA Records channel hosted by Matthew Gaydos. Features reveals of new merchandise carried by the online store, sales, or specials that may be happening, exhibits of NerdFArt, and the rise and fall of the box structure known as Fort Awesome.
  • Warner Chilcott - 1. (n.) A US pharmaceutical company which provides Hank essential and overpriced medication for his ulcerative colitis. 2. (n.) An insult or exclamation, e.g. “they totally Warner Chilcotted me!” or “Oh, Warner Chilcott. I lost my TARDIS.” or “Go Warner Chilcott yourself.”
  • Who the eff is Hank? - (n.) A question commonly asked on Question Tuesday. The answers are always hilariously inaccurate. Early viewers were confused by John opening the videos with “Good morning, Hank” and would ask this question in comments.
  • Willy - (n.) John’s West Highland Terrier, otherwise known as “The Dread Pirate Fireball Wilson Roberts”, or Bubbles the Nerdfighting Puppy, or simply Willy. Named after a character in the book The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley.
  • Willy’s Elusive Head Turn - (n.) When John’s dog Willy was younger, he would adorably turn his head when he heard an unfamiliar sound. When John thought that he and Sarah had exhausted all of their possible sounds, he turned to the Nerdfighters, who made even weirder sounds, which Hank compiled into Willy's Song.
  • Will Grayson, Will Grayson - (n.) A novel by John and David Levithan, published 2010. It is about two different teenagers, both named Will Grayson, who meet and become a part of each other’s lives.
  • Wimbly Womblys - (n.) see AFC Wimbledon Wimbly Womblys.
  • Winner, South Dakota - (n.) The geographical midpoint between John’s home in Indianapolis, IN and Hank’s home in Missoula, MT. Mentioned in several videos and Hank’s song Nerdfighteria Island.
  • Winter Park, Florida - (n.) The setting for John’s book, Paper Towns, and also the city where Hank and John grew up.
  • Worldsuck - (n.) Anything that causes hardship in the world. Hank and John have done many things to help reduce it, including starting (The Foundation to Decrease Worldsuck) and promoting (Kiva.org, The Uncultured Project, Water.org, Project for Awesome) charities and spreading information. Often referred to as simply “suck,” as in the phrase “decrease suck and increase awesome.”
  • Wrock - (n.) Pronounced just like the word “rock,” this is short for wizard rock, a genre of music consisting of songs about or inspired by Harry Potter, invented by Harry and the Potters. Hank is a wrock musician; sometimes called “wrocker”. A list of wrock bands may be found here.

X

Y

  • YA - (n.) An initialism for Young Adult, it refers to YA books or Young Adult books, the genre in which John writes.
  • Yeti, The - (n.) John’s wife, Sarah Urist Green, host of The Art Assignment. She is known as the Yeti because she does not appear in vlogbrothers videos. In John’s first video, he said that she’s similar to a Yeti in that she figures prominently in Nerdfighteria folklore but is rarely seen, a joke he later credited to The Yeti herself. It should be noted that her first YouTube video appearance on the vlogbrothers channel was to speak to the President. Yes, that one.
  • YFN - (n.) Initialism for “Your Faithful Narrator”; protagonist of the interactive online puzzle story This Is Not Tom.
  • Your Pants - (n.) The first iteration of the revamped nerdfighter forums; it was overrun by hackers and spam, leading to the creation of Our Pants.
  • YouTube - (n.) An online platform for sharing videos, where much of Nerdfighteria is based. It’s where all of John and Hank’s various video projects are hosted.

Z

  • Ze Frank - (n.) A vlogger and friend of the Green Brothers. One of the pioneers of vlogging and jump cuts. Also, one of the reasons John very rarely blinks in videos. His year-long video project “The Show” was the main inspiration for the Brotherhood 2.0 format. AKA the grandfather of YouTube.
  • Zombicorns - (n.) A somewhat unpolished zombie novella by John (see NaNoWriMo). Despite the title and cover design, it does not contain unicorns, but is instead about normal corn.

A big thank you goes out to Karianna Jory, who helped edit and proofread this dictionary, and thanks to everyone who contributed:

Aaron Peters, Abby Liu, Alexandria Tse, Alicia Workman, Allie Hart, Allison Holley, Alvin Lorus, Alyssa Lerner, Alyssa Nicole Ty, Amanda Franklin, Amy Janssen, Andrew McGovern, Anna E. Ewing, Aoife Lannon, Aparna Pateria, Avalon Ruby, Anna McDonald, Anna Poelma, Billy Tennery, Bradford Makara, Brian O’Donnell, Briana Putnam, Caitlin Cowan, Cameron Shultz, Carolyn Rink, Catherine Lu, Catherine MacLean, Chloe Mckirdy, Clare Booth, Crestel Ligo, Dacey Black, Daisy Stacey, Daniel McCrae, Dave Green, David Sheard, David Theaker, Desiree Vogt-Lee, Eleanor Holmes, Elise Berendt, Eliza Knopps, Elsa Erenmalm, Emily Yang, Emma Foster, Emma McElroy, Evan Sandoval, Evelina Karlsson, Forest Trim, Gina Ortiz-Sanchez, Georgia Watts, Gerli Viikmaa, Glynnis Gourhan, Hana Schlosser, Hudson Forman, İdil Kutlu, Isabel Tehan, Jacob Davey-Lambert, Jack Spence, Jackie K., Jackie Smith, Jacqueline Yoo, Josh Alan Moughler, Josh Jackman, Judith Boswell, Justin Young, Kanzas Godbey, Karianna Jory, Karla Maddy, Karrington Dozois, Katy Bartzis, Kaytlyn Green, Kevin Loughlin, Komal Ad, Kyle Butera, Kyle Coutu, Kyra Wiseman, Laura Smith, Lauren Thompson, Lesley Mobley, Lia Risser, Linda Ryan, Liv Weston, Lorena Villaça, Madeline Broedel, Madeline King, Maggie Dressel, Martha Gleeson, Marie Skatvedt Mathisen, Meg Aroluna, Meghan Cecchini, Mei Lian Hoe, Michelle Dearolf, Natasha Buckham, Natasha Gaj, Naomi Longo, Nicholas Bobbitt, Olivia Brewington, Paige Railstone, Patrick Westervelt, Peta-Marie Harris, Rachel Nugent, Raizel Burstein-Frame, Rebecca Beam, Red Green, Rita Peças, Rosie Wickers, Rowan Pritchard, Sarah Hill, Signe Birch Jensen, Sophie Katz, Sylvia Hook, Tanya Mittal, Tess Clothier, Thea Holcomb, Thomas Dixon, Thomas Underwood, Tiffany Chou, Tiffany Pettis, Tina “Fireant” Goose, Yuree Jang, Zanny Weinreb, Zaynab Lorgat, and Zoe Light.

If you have a definition that you think should be included here, email Victoria and it may just be added.