> The line is technically using the word correctly but you have to know 40 years of Star Wars lore to know why.
That Han skirted closer to a black hole than anyone else, and that's why a unit of distance is appropriate? But I'm not sure if I've ever seen a canonical source for that, it's just fan rationalization :)
I suppose it's better than the "Han is trying to brag, but he's an idiot" rationalization, which is a bit hard to swallow considering he's otherwise a fairly capable pilot.
FWIW I had found a source[1] that said George Lucas gave this rationalization on the Blu Ray commentary track. I found it by a search on "12 parsec Kessel run". Is this a retcon-level waving away of a groaner after the fact or what GL was actually thinking when he typed the line?
That would be my guess, considering that it's a bit too hard-sci-fi of an explanation to fit in with the space opera writing of Star Wars.
It doesn't really matter, I guess, because the commentary would make it canon. Today I leaned; thanks :)
I have only once successfully told a joke to a medical professional that had to do with medicine. I make a lot of jokes that are meant as satires of ignorance, and that audience always just wants to correct the ignorance (which is a good thing).
[1] The line is technically using the word correctly but you have to know 40 years of Star Wars lore to know why.