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DFTBA

term · in 53 videos (2007–2013)

Mentions by year: 2007: 4 · 2008: 6 · 2009: 14 · 2010: 6 · 2011: 9 · 2012: 4 · 2013: 10

Threads

What the videos say

2007

2008

  • 2008-02-08 · QUESTION TUESDAYS (On Friday) — If forced to get a tattoo, John would probably get DFTBA on his hand, to remind himself he is supposed to be awesome. (00:03:36)
  • 2008-05-18 · A CUTETACULAR INTRODUCTION! — John shows gifts Nerdfighters brought the brothers in Grand Rapids: a ceramic DFTBA cup and a book called 'Scruffy Teddy Likes to Play in Your Pants'. (00:00:30)
  • 2008-10-31 · Show 'n Tell Thursday — Book-related presents include a dreidel (John recalls the minivan is called that), a Black Santa with 'do not forget to be awesome' on his hand, and a 'real-life minivan' from Phoenix. (00:00:00)

2009

  • 2009-03-25 · Peeps! Prom! Puppy! — John is encouraged when commenters ask what DFTBA means, because it means 'we're recruiting'. (00:01:47)
  • 2009-03-25 · Peeps! Prom! Puppy! — John asks Nerdfighters to suggest in the comments what else DFTBA could stand for. (00:01:47)
  • 2009-03-29 · Tiny Chickens Cause Epic Fail — John starts to share some of his favourite non-'Don't Forget to Be Awesome' DFTBA meanings; the passage is cut off (presumably shown on screen). (00:01:09)
  • 2009-03-29 · Tiny Chickens Cause Epic Fail — John invites Nerdfighters to upload illustrations of their favourite DFTBA acronym to the Ning. (00:01:56)
  • 2009-04-01 · A Few Of My Favorite Things — Hank calls Nerdfighteria his favourite thing and shows Nerdfighters' illustrations of favourite DFTBA acronyms made after John's Sunday request, thanking them. (00:02:40)
  • 2009-04-23 · DFTBA — Hank raps a song, performed with Michael Aranda, made of Nerdfighter-suggested alternative expansions of DFTBA, framed by the refrain asking what DFTBA means. (00:00:26)
  • 2009-04-23 · DFTBA — Hank says the song was not all his work and thanks the Nerdfighters who suggested DFTBA acronyms and those who illustrated them. (00:04:13)
  • 2009-04-25 · Saturday Video?!?!?! — Asked who created the original DFTBA acronym, John credits his friend Katie (surname heard as 'Els'). (00:01:04)
  • 2009-06-23 · Fighting the Flame War! — Hank explains 'don't forget to be awesome', shortened to DFTBA, as a saying of the community: people sometimes forget to be awesome, so they remind each other. (00:01:59)
  • 2009-07-02 · Most Subscribed: A Song — Hank says the DFTBA shirt he wore in the song is on sale at DFTBA.com; only 200 were made and about 50 sold before he mentioned it. (00:02:29)
  • 2009-07-30 · Mules are so Half-Ass — Hank shows a rap in which every line is an acronym for DFTBA, which people who were not at LeakyCon have never heard in acoustic version. (00:03:13)
  • 2009-12-28 · How To Be a Nerdfighter: A Vlogbrothers FAQ — After John insists DFTBA is an initialism, not an acronym, Hank says it stands for Don't Forget To Be Awesome. (00:01:13)
  • …and 1 more statements in 2009 (most important shown)

2010

  • 2010-04-27 · Nerdfighters, They Named a PLANE After Us — Nerdfighters with the HP Alliance raised enough to fill four planes with medicine and water for Haiti; the fourth and final plane leaves Thursday, and Partners in Health calls it the SS DFTBA. (00:01:38)
  • 2010-10-05 · The Terrible Burden of Destiny: Chicago and Waupaca — John speaks at Waupaca High School and is given a cheesehead; after 10 hours alone talking to people felt weird, but a handmade DFTBA shirt always makes him happy. (00:01:28)
  • 2010-10-13 · On Hope and Chile — John met many Nerdfighters, several of whom have permanent reminders not to forget to be awesome on their bodies. (00:01:05)
  • 2010-10-21 · Strange Charm: A Song about Quarks — Hank says the song is at dft.ba/quarks, made possible by his friends Sam and Alan, who created dft.ba, a URL shortener that reminds people not to forget to be awesome. (00:01:48)
  • 2010-12-28 · To: You - - From: The Vlogbrothers — Hank asks anyone who got or bought vlogbrothers, DFTBA or Nerdfighter t-shirts to send photos of themselves wearing them to hankandjohn@gmail.com, which may go on the website. (00:00:39)

2011

  • 2011-01-07 · CONCUSSED Question Friday — To find other Nerdfighters at school, John recommends getting or making a DFTBA shirt; DFTBA means Don't Forget To Be Awesome. (00:00:59)
  • 2011-02-09 · NERDFIGHTERS UNITE! (in your pants) — John sets two rules, for Nerdfighteria and for human existence generally: number one, don't be mean; number two, DFTBA. (00:01:07)
  • 2011-05-20 · How to Vlog: From the Vlogbrothers — Besides Don't Forget To Be Awesome, Hank gives a vlogging rule: Don't Forget To Be Interesting; he sometimes writes scripts so what he says isn't dull. (00:01:22)
  • 2011-05-23 · Eating the Unicorn — John says Tumblr seems to be the top destination for Nerdfighter jokes, Looking for Alaska quotations, DFTBA tattoos, Pizza John jokes and Humpy Hank sites. (00:02:50)
  • 2011-09-09 · 10 Years after September 11th, and Diablo III — Hank says anything anyone does with the letters DFTBA, however impermanent, might be seen by another Nerdfighter and make their day. (00:03:36)

2012

2013

  • 2013-01-11 · On the Ownership of Ideas — Hank says that in 2007 John's friend Katie put DFTBA at the end of her to-do list; the brothers took it, popularized it through the vlog, and Hank is proud of and identifies with it. (00:00:52)
  • 2013-01-11 · On the Ownership of Ideas — Many people make DFTBA stuff, from crafty people on Etsy to big global corporations; Hank asks whether they are stealing from the brothers, from Katie, or from no one. (00:01:05)
  • 2013-01-11 · On the Ownership of Ideas — Hank distinguishes having a sense of ownership over something, as he does over DFTBA, from actually owning it, and says he does not want to give in to the desire for control. (00:01:36)
  • 2013-01-16 · An Evening of Awesome at Carnegie Hall — Hank, inviting John back on stage, thanks everyone for an evening of awesome, Carnegie Hall, everyone at Penguin, friends and family, and closes with 'don't forget to be awesome'. (02:41:58)
  • 2013-02-15 · Baby, Harlem, Obama, Dance Crazes, Big Week — Obama tells John that the main thing is to tell the child, whichever name they choose, not to forget to be awesome. (00:02:49)
  • 2013-02-19 · Doing Things, On the Importance of — John and his wife are expecting their second child, whom the President told not to forget to be awesome. (00:00:05)
  • 2013-06-11 · How To Be John Green — Craig makes a 'Nerdfighter clone' to practise talking to Nerdfighters; the clone says DFTBA and is sent to decrease worldsuck in the bathroom with a mop. (00:01:43)
  • 2013-11-22 · How to Apologize like a Fartbag — Hank says Nerdfighteria's slogan of seven years, 'Don't forget to be awesome', is good because it is hard: being awesome needs constant vigilance and everyone will slip up. (00:00:09)
  • 2013-12-03 · Who Owns DFTBA? An Introduction to Trademarks — John says Nerdfighters ask about the 'Don't Forget to Be Awesome' rug at Urban Outfitters: the brothers didn't license it, aren't paid, aren't happy, could stop it but won't. (00:00:00)
  • 2013-12-03 · Who Owns DFTBA? An Introduction to Trademarks — John lists other companies using DFTBA: a Kate Spade wallet, a Hobby Lobby poster, a dELiA*s T-shirt, an Aeropostale ad, items from Pier One and Ron Jon Surf Shop. (00:00:17)
  • 2013-12-03 · Who Owns DFTBA? An Introduction to Trademarks — John says the brothers did not invent 'Don't Forget to Be Awesome'; so far as he knows his friend Katie invented it in 2007. (00:00:32)
  • 2013-12-03 · Who Owns DFTBA? An Introduction to Trademarks — John says the phrase belongs not to the brothers but to Nerdfighteria, so they won't trademark it, since that would claim ownership of something not really theirs. (00:02:07)
  • …and 2 more statements in 2013 (most important shown)