side quest
/ˈsaɪd kwɛst/
Very CommonAn unplanned detour or tangential task that takes you away from what you were supposed to be doing.
Usually said with affection or humor. Side quests are often more interesting than the main task. Using it frames life as a game, which is part of the joke.
Real-world examples4 examples
| # | Example | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | went to get coffee and somehow ended up at an antique market. side quest unlocked | An errand turned into an unexpected adventure. | x, 2024 |
| 02 | fixing one bug turned into a whole side quest through the codebase | One small task revealed a chain of related issues that took much longer than expected. | reddit, 2023 |
| 03 | currently on a side quest learning guitar. no idea how this started | Picked up an unplanned hobby that has taken on a life of its own. | tiktok, 2024 |
| 04 | took a wrong turn and accidentally did a whole side quest in a neighborhood i've never been to | Got lost and ended up exploring somewhere unexpected. | x, 2023 |
Use it when
- You got distracted from a main task and ended up doing something unplanned.
- Describing an unintended adventure or unexpected errand.
- Framing a tangential project or interest as a fun detour.
- Something small turned into a whole unexpected thing.
Do not use it when
- You mean a literal video game side mission in a gaming context.
Origin and context
Borrowed directly from video game terminology, where side quests are optional missions outside the main story. Applied to real life as gaming vocabulary entered everyday internet slang around the late 2010s.
- First seen
- late-2010s
- Confidence
- medium
Cite this page
Use this stable URL to reference the entry.
https://slang.fyi/side-questUpdated: 2026-08-28License: CC BY 4.0