在电脑和互联网无处不在的现代社会，工作时间偶尔开小差看个电影啊，玩个小游戏啊之类的事情都是不可防止的。可如果正玩的起劲儿，老板却出目前不远处，这可如何好呢？只见人家不慌不忙手指轻点下键盘，屏幕立刻变成工作界面，难道那个键就是boss key？
A boss key is a special keyboard shortcut1 used in computer games or other programs to quickly hide the program and possibly display a special screen that appears to be a normal productivity program.
Boss key是电脑游戏中用的一个特殊的快捷键，用来迅速隐藏游戏界面并显示正常工作程序的一个特殊界面。
This was a fairly common feature in early computer games for personal computers, when most boss keys were used to show dummy2 DOS prompts. The use has faded somewhat as modern multitasking operating systems have evolved.
老板键在早期的电脑游戏中非常容易见到，多数都是用来显示虚拟的DOS提示框。伴随后来多任务操作系统的进步，老板键的用法也日渐淡出。