easter egg

Meaning

An 'easter egg' is a hidden feature, message, or inside joke intentionally tucked into a movie, video game, book, or software. It is meant for the audience or players to find, creating a fun sense of discovery when they notice it.

Examples

• Did you catch the Pixar easter egg hidden in the background of that scene?

  Did you catch the Pixar easter egg hidden in the background of that scene?

• The developers hid a cool easter egg in the game's main menu that plays old music.

  The developers hid a cool easter egg in the game's main menu that plays old music.

• If you click the logo five times, you'll trigger a funny easter egg.

  If you click the logo five times, you'll trigger a funny easter egg.

• I love searching for Marvel easter eggs whenever a new movie comes out.

  I love searching for Marvel easter eggs whenever a new movie comes out.

• Her latest novel is full of easter eggs for fans of her earlier work.

  Her latest novel is full of easter eggs for fans of her earlier work.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ The chocolate easter egg in the game was hard to find.

  ✓ The easter egg in the game was hard to find.

  While the term comes from actual chocolate eggs hidden on Easter, in media contexts, 'easter egg' refers to digital secrets, so you should not call it a 'chocolate' or 'real' egg.

• ✗ I found a bug, it was a cool easter egg.

  ✓ I found a secret feature, it was a cool easter egg.

  An easter egg is programmed on purpose by creators, whereas a bug is an unintentional error.

Related Expressions

Practice

• The director hid a clever ___ in the background of the opening scene.

  💡 A hidden secret or reference.

  Show answer

  easter egg

• If you type 'do a barrel roll' into Google, you'll see a classic digital ___.

  💡 An intentional hidden feature.

  Show answer

  easter egg