Pedantry of the Day: A "parsec" is a unit of distance, not time

Maggie Koerth 7:34 pm Mon Dec 6, 2010

Science comedian Brian Malow rags on what he sees as the most grating scientific error in Star Wars: A New Hope. EDIT: Video moved to after the jump. Apparently, it's auto-playing on some browsers.

I noticed the sketchy use of the word "parsec", too. But I'd always assumed the choice was part of Han Solo's characterization. After all, isn't he just the sort of lovable pirate scamp who'd try to scam a couple of yokels by exaggerating the slickness of his ride without, technically, lying about it? I'm sure the Millennium Falcon could make the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs … just like everybody else's ship. Han was just hoping his potential passengers were too uneducated to know that.

Anyway, this is what I choose to believe.

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