Side quest
Etymology
From video-game structure, where a side quest is an optional mission apart from the main storyline. The metaphor spread online in the 2020s to describe real-life detours, as in “ran into an old friend, that turned into a whole side quest.”
noun · /SYDE-kwest/
A diversion from your main objective — an optional detour undertaken for its own sake.
What it names
It frames life as a game with a “main quest,” casting the unplanned errand, adventure, or tangent as a self-contained mission you take on instead. It reframes distraction or spontaneity as something deliberate and complete in itself.
Example
I only went out for milk and came home three hours later — it became a real side quest.
Related idea
A knowing counterpoint to main-character framing: main-character energy centers you in the plot, while a side quest is a deliberate step off it.