[Ads-l] Antedating "Easter egg"

Bill Mullins amcombill at HOTMAIL.COM
Sun Apr 5 01:28:02 UTC 2026


In recognition of tomorrow's holiday  . . .

OED (2) 1986
The OED suggests that the term comes from computing.  Online sources claim that it comes from the world of video games, and state that the 1981 cite below is the origin of the term (although actual Easter eggs are documented back into the early 1970s).

1981 Electronic Games Winter 14/2

"From now on," he told EG in an exclusive interview, "we're going to plant little 'Easter eggs' like that in the games."

https://archive.org/details/ElectronicGames/Electronic%20Games%20Issue%201%20%28Winter%201981%29/page/n15/mode/1up



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