Street voices
Janna
·
United States
"A side quest is basically just doing a random activity, not scheduled, not really typical to do, it's just a side quest. It's kind of, you know, a reference. It comes from basically video games when you're on, like, a story video game, where you're on a certain path and there's a storyline you're following, and then there's just random side quests that they can ask you to do for more points and whatnot. It's pretty much optional. An example would be, say I'm just going to the orange farm to pick up some oranges, just, you know, random side quest."
What it means
A side quest is a fun, random detour from whatever you were actually supposed to be doing, a little unplanned adventure on the way to the main plan. A quick errand turns into a whole story you did not see coming.
Usage examples
"We went out for milk and ended up on a three-hour side quest at the flea market."
"Forget the schedule, today is for side quests and snacks."
"I popped out to return one package and somehow ended up on a full side quest involving coffee, a charity shop, and bumping into my old teacher."
"This was supposed to be a ten-minute grocery run, but we got distracted by a street fair and the whole thing turned into a side quest."
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Where it comes from
It comes straight from gaming. In story-driven video games, a side quest is an optional mission that spins off from the main plot. People pulled it into everyday English for those chaotic little detours where you meant to do one simple thing and somehow unlocked a whole extra mini-adventure.
Editors of this term
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