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in your pants

bit phrase · in 102 videos (2007–2023)

A word game of adding 'in your pants' to book titles to make them funnier, started by John, Maureen Johnson and E. Lockhart and brought to the channel in January 2007.

Videos by year: 2007: 56 · 2008: 9 · 2009: 13 · 2010: 11 · 2011: 9 · 2012: 2 · 2013: 1 · 2023: 1

Also known as: in my pants, your pants

In the lexicon: in your pants

Threads

Also named in the threads: Brotherhood 2.0: the 2007 year of daily video letters · Hank's 'tiny chickens' illness bit (2007) · John: punishment for accidentally CC'ing Hank on an email (2007) · The brothers' 'secret siblings' (2007) · Hank asks viewers to put stuff on their heads (2007) · Stuff on Heads: viewers send pictures and videos of stuff on their heads (2007) · Hank: write a song every two weeks (2007 challenge from John) · Song Wednesday: Hank performs a song on Wednesdays (2007) · John's 'the puff' stress habit (2007) · The Evil Baby Orphanage (2007) · My Pants: the Brotherhood 2.0 forum (2007) · John: give away his tote bags on the forum 'My Pants' (2007) · John asks what the opposite of a nerdfighter is (2007) · John's proposal to say 'jokes' instead of 'cool' (2007) · The brothers' feud, to be judged by Nerdfighters (2007) · Hank and Katherine's October trip: drive from Montana to Seattle, then fly on (2007) · Brotherhood 2.0 scavenger hunt (2007) · John's puppy-sized elephant (2008) · Willy as the Dread Pirate Fireball Wilson Roberts (2008) · LeakyCon 2009 edition · John's 'giant squid of anger' (2009) · 'French the llama': John's misreading of FTL as an exclamation of amazement (2009) · P4A 2010 edition · Your Pants (yourpants.org): the Nerdfighter forum, its hacker outage and return (2011) · Hank asks his Twitter followers for potential Your Pants logos (2011) · Nerdfighters are asked to vote in a Your Pants poll on the Sharpie colour for John's signatures of The Fault in Our Stars (2011)

Often together

What comes up in the same parts of the videos; the number is how many parts.

Brotherhood 2.0 forum (34) · Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone? (6) · Maureen Johnson (12) · Brian (3) · made of awesome (7) · Stuff on Heads (4) · Brotherhood 2.0 (13) · Peeps (5) · Nerdfighter Ning (4) · nerdfighter (5)

What the videos say

The most important statements of each year; all statements.

2007

  • 2007-01-23 · Brotherhood 2.0: January 23rd — Hank says he was recently at Maureen Johnson's blog, about a long conversation John, Johnson and Lockhart had on the suffix 'in your pants': every book title gets better with it. (playful) — 00:01:57
  • 2007-01-24 · Brotherhood 2.0: January 24, 2007 — John adds an addendum to the rule: sometimes 'in your pants' isn't the funniest addition; funniest is 'Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone… From Your Pants'. (playful, hedged) — 00:02:31
  • 2007-01-29 · Brotherhood 2.0: January 29th — Hank: The project is a performance of 'Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone From Your Pants', the old song with the 'from your pants' suffix. (playful) — 00:00:50 · also in: October 16th: John's Library Pwns
  • 2007-01-30 · Brotherhood 2.0: January 30, 2007 — John: Offering in-your-pants jokes, John asks Hank and viewers which is funnier: 'Everyone Poops in My Pants' or 'Everyone Poops in Your Pants'. (playful) — 00:01:22
  • 2007-01-31 · Brotherhood 2.0: January 31st — Hank: Agreeing with most commenters, Hank rules 'in my pants' funnier: 'Everyone Poops in My Pants' is a sad story, and sad poop stories are funnier than funny ones. (playful) — 00:02:13
  • 2007-05-02 · Brotherhood 2.0: May 2: Book Banning — John: After adding 'in your pants' to the title, John says that joke is the dirtiest thing about the book: nothing in it is inappropriate for teens, or even ten-year-olds. (playful) — 00:00:52
  • 2007-05-09 · My 9th: Singing and Randy — announcement: Hank officially accepts John's challenge to write a song every two weeks, which 'the other guy from Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone From Your Pants' suggested; he will sing on each of his Wednesdays. — 00:00:10
  • 2007-06-07 · June 7: Weather and My Pants — Hank reports that overnight the forum 'My Pants' reached over 300 registered users, who had posted about a thousand posts. — 00:01:46
  • 2007-07-19 · July 19: A Day in the Life of a Writer (Who Has No Friends) — announcement: John is working on a part of his new novel about 150 pages in, and reads its prologue as a hint because people 'in my pants' debate what the book is about. — 00:01:32
  • 2007-07-25 · July 25: Brotherhood 2.0's Youtube Comments Are Answered! — John defines a nerdfighter as a regular person made out of awesome instead of tissues, cells and organs; nerdfighters hang out on the forum 'in my pants' and embroider pillows. (playful) — 00:01:40
  • 2007-08-22 · August 22nd: Um. Uh. IN YOUR PANTS — John declares that 'in your pants' jokes never get old, like the family in Tuck Everlasting, and runs through literary titles 'in your pants'. (joke) — 00:02:37
  • 2007-12-28 · Dec. 28th: John's Last Brotherhood 2.0 Video — John: Busy grown-up siblings living across the country lack time for games like adding 'In Your Pants' to book titles; John calls knowing your siblings as adults an increasingly rare pleasure. (hedged) — 00:01:20
  • …and 39 statements more in 2007 — all statements of 2007

Also named in: Helen Hunt, Brotherhood 2.0: July 2nd: The Law of Compound Nerdfighting, July 3: Decepticons, July 9: The Punishment Fiasco, Brotherhood 2.0: Harry and the Potters are Nerdfighters!, July 27: How Nerdfighters Drop Insults, August 2nd: Airports and Box Fans, August 8th: The Lawn and the Fury, August 27th: Thanks Yous and Cameos, August 28th: Starring Mom, October 12th: Carbon Re-Neutralizing Brotherhood 2.0, November 8th: SUGAR HIGH!, December 7th: Fight Night with the Green Bros., Dec 18th: The Project for Awesome and Question Tuesday!!!

2008

  • 2008-02-14 · The Puff Pwns Gravity — John had thought the 'in your pants' joke had run its course until a nerdfighter checking in books for third graders found 'Pooh Gets Stuck'. (playful) — 00:02:05
  • 2008-04-08 · Nerdfighting in Bangladesh — John: The children Shawn works with may not know in-your-pants jokes, speak English or have fast internet, but they are still part of us. — 00:02:20
  • 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
  • …and 1 statement more in 2008 — all statements of 2008

Also named in: Happy (Belated) Birthday, Hank, Book Eight...Another Harry Potter Song, A Video about Videos, Berlin and Let it Snow (in Your Pants), Sharing Presents in Westport

2009

  • 2009-02-08 · All Aboard the Fail Boat — John says Nerdfighteria takes the attack on women's pants personally: the in-your-pants book-title joke is funny, a hoopskirt designed to rob women of power is not, and Williamson will not take his in-your-pants jokes. (playful) — 00:01:33
  • 2009-06-01 · DFTBA Street Team In Your Pants — Maureen Johnson: As E. Lockhart sought a title for what became The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, Maureen, staring at John's cream cheese, proposed adding 'in your pants' to any title; Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines came first. (playful) — 00:02:00
    • Maureen Johnson: Maureen says they played the game for the rest of the day and got nothing else done, and that is how the movement started, because John doesn't know how to eat. (playful) — 00:02:23
  • 2009-07-26 · Volunteering (In Your Pants) — John recounts that he and Maureen Johnson discovered in a coffee shop that adding 'in your pants' to book titles makes them funnier, and runs through examples. (playful) — 00:00:37
    • John says the foundation chooses books with people in the camps, based on what they need and want (after joking it picks the best in-your-pants jokes). (playful) — 00:02:24
  • 2009-09-12 (said on 2009-09-11, implied) · Special Friday Video! (On Saturday) — John is excited to see Nerdfighters seeking political office, joking that the Nerdfighter agenda is 'in your pants' book titles and puppy-sized elephants. (playful) — 00:02:51
  • 2009-10-06 · Victoria Beckham In Your Pants — John restates the 'in your pants' rule: adding the words to the end of a book title often makes it funnier, and Nerdfighters keep finding examples, the last being 'Pooh Gets Stuck'. (playful) — 00:00:00
    • John says a Nerdfighter may have found an even better example: Victoria Beckham's book 'That Extra Half an Inch', subtitled 'Hair, Heels, and Everything in Between'. (playful, hedged) — 00:00:32
  • 2009-12-27 · How To Be a Nerdfighter: A Vlogbrothers FAQ — John says 'in your pants' was discovered by Maureen Johnson: adding it to book titles makes them funnier, e.g. The Sun Also Rises and A Spot of Bother. (playful) — 00:02:38
  • …and 2 statements more in 2009 — all statements of 2009

Also named in: Winners and Winners and Ningmasters, Question Tuesday, So Jokes: Video EP, HAPPY JOHN DAY!!!, 100 QUESTIONS ANSWERED!!!!!!!, Adorable Puppy Explains Health Care Bill

2010

  • 2010-01-22 · ThisIsNotJohn — Maureen Johnson: She describes herself as a friend of John's and fellow YA author, probably best known to Nerdfighters as the originator of the 'In Your Pants' joke. (hedged) — 00:00:00
  • 2010-04-19 · I Shall BLOW YOUR MIND — ask: Hank: Noting people react differently to knowing we are on a tiny pale blue dot, Hank asks viewers to leave their reactions in the comments ('in my pants'). — 00:03:03
  • 2010-06-21 · You're Gonna Die — John tells Hank they and everyone they love will die, and one day no one will remember the books, World Cups, proofs or in-your-pants jokes, as if they never happened. — 00:00:00
  • 2010-08-20 · The Fox Hat IS REAL, but Are Zombies People? — John: In 'important developments in the field of your pants', John announces that a UK Nerdfighter has found a children's book called The Sweaty Yeti. (playful) — 00:03:18
  • 2010-12-10 · Project for Awesome and Thoughts from DC — announcement: Hank tells video makers to get the P4A thumbnail from 'the links in my pants' (the description); only YouTube partners can change thumbnails, so others should put 'Project for Awesome' or 'P4A' in title and tags. — 00:00:31

Also named in: The Marriage Ref SUCKS, Advice on First Kisses, Stalkers, College Majors, and More, Viacom PWNED on Piracy, I Hung out with Snookie...Accidentally, Tongue Twisters, My Zombie Apocalypse Novella

2011

  • 2011-02-09 · NERDFIGHTERS UNITE! (in your pants) — John piles up old in-jokes: pizza in the mustache, the singamajig, his puppy-sized elephant, the Dread Pirate Fireball Wilson Roberts and French the Llama, Tender Morsels in your pants. (playful) — 00:00:18
    • John announces that some Nerdfighters are building Your Pants, like the old forum My Pants but yours; hopefully live within a week at yourpants.org, for friendships and decreasing world suck. (hedged) — 00:02:23
  • 2011-02-11 · 200 People in Your Pants — Hank and his team worked all day and late into the night on Your Pants, including integrating Facebook; he is very tired from coding CSS and hacking it. — 00:00:02
    • Hank opens Your Pants for business, but only to the first 200 people, a limited public release so that nothing crashes or breaks. — 00:03:05
    • Hank asks viewers to go to Your Pants right now and sign up if they can. — 00:03:18
  • 2011-02-14 · CHUBBY BUNNY...blergh! — John congratulates Hank on Your Pants. (playful) — 00:02:10
  • 2011-02-16 · This Video Brought to you by Nyquil — Hank: Exploring Your Pants, Hank found some of his favourite threads in the history of all forums, such as one where sciency people blow minds, linked in the doobly-doo. — 00:01:37
    • Hank describes a Your Pants thread whose Palestinian and Israeli members decided to collaborate and become one thread. — 00:01:49
  • 2011-04-29 · Peanut Butter Face Question Tuesday — John explains the 'in your pants' rule: their friend Maureen Johnson discovered that book titles are funnier with 'in your pants' added, and gives examples. — 00:01:31
  • 2011-06-29 · THE FAULT IN OUR STARS — ask: John delegates the Sharpie colour to a poll in Your Pants, linked in the doobly-doo. — 00:01:10
  • 2011-07-08 · Kill the Dollar Bill! — ask: John: Viewers are deciding which Sharpie colour John will use to sign the books: the poll in Your Pants is linked in the doobly-doo, so vote. — 00:02:49
  • 2011-11-28 · Stuffed with STUFF! — Hank explains the Your Pants forum buckles under 10,000 Nerdfighters; they are negotiating for hosting that won't crash or cost about $500 a month, and expect it back by January at the latest. — video description
  • …and 5 statements more in 2011 — all statements of 2011

Also named in: Signing Psychosis, BlizzCon, TFiOS, Awesome Adventures, and URLatron

2012

  • 2012-01-02 · Changes to Vlogbrothers — John says five years ago he would never have guessed there would be a Nerdfighteria, a Project for Awesome, In Your Pants jokes or an Evil Baby Orphanage (which still doesn't exist but should). — 00:00:00
    • Change two: John says the Your Pants forum has been down for several months because of Russian hackers but is coming back this week (week of 2 January 2012). (playful) — 00:01:08
  • 2012-06-19 · Solving Your Problems! — recommendation: John: To find local Nerdfighters, John points to Facebook, the Ning and Your Pants, where there are many location-specific Nerdfighter groups. (playful) — 00:03:16

2023

Also named in other years (nothing said): The World Needs More Magic (2013-07-09)