boss key

boss key (plural boss keys)

1. (chiefly video games) A key which, when pressed, hides a program from view by a superior in the workplace.

   Synonyms: boss button, panic button

   When the directors came out of their meeting, I hit the boss key to replace my game with a fake spreadsheet screen.

   • 1990, Michael Mueller, Martin Schuchardt, The Leisure Suit Larry Story, Abacus, →ISBN, page 19:

     To obtain the boss key in Leisure Suit Larry games, press <Ctrl><B>. This is also displayed in the “Special” menu. However, use the boss key with caution. First of all, your boss must be really naive if he believes that this display is part of your normal work and secondly, you must be prepared to lose your current score after you press the boss key.

   • 2006, Ian Bogost, Unit Operations: An Approach to Videogame Criticism, MIT Press, →ISBN:

     For one, the original Tetris game I remember came with a "boss key," a special command built into the game's menu. When the player presses the boss key, the game pauses and draws a noninteractive spreadsheet program onto the screen.

   • 2009, Woody Leonhard, Windows 7 All-in-One For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 240:

     You can use screen savers to create a Super Boss Key—a key combination, such as Alt+F10, that you can press to make the PC immediately switch over to running the screen saver.

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