How to Speak Star Wars

Aurebesh

Every Sci-Fi franchise has its own language. A gun in “Star Wars” is called a ‘Blaster’ whereas in “Star Trek” a gun is called a ‘Phaser’. ‘Platinum’ is a form of currency in “Firefly” whereas ‘Cubits’ is a currency in “Battlestar Galactica”. Specific vernacular is important for world building in science fiction, especially for franchises with extensive universes beyond film.

Most fans are familiar with the Star Wars terminology used in the episodic movies. We know the difference between a ‘Proton Torpedo’ and a ‘Thermal Detonator’ for example. But there are other terms found outside of the movies that are important to the fabric of the Star Wars galaxy. Novels, after all, must be able to describe everyday galactic life in a very specific way.

Vibroblade

Some of the first novels to describe the Star Wars galaxy were the three books in the “Han Solo Adventures”, released between 1979 – 1980. It was in this trilogy by Brian Daley that fans were first introduced to the Vibroblade, a Star Wars term that means “knife”. Fans also learned that a Chrono is a clock, Transparisteel is glass, and Holovids are the SW equivalent of television.

           

Various sourcebooks in the 1980s further expanded on the language of Star Wars. Fans learned that Binders are Handcuffs, that Turbolifts are elevators, that the Holonet is the Star Wars internet, and that Durasteel is… well… steel.

Glowrod

In the early 1990s, Timothy Zahn wrote the “Thrawn Trilogy” starting with the book "Heir to the Empire". This is where fans first learned that a computer hacker in Star Wars is called a Slicer. The term Slicer, of course, became important in the plot of “The Last Jedi”. Zahn also gave us the term Glowrod which is a Star Wars flashlight and Datapad which is the equivalent of a modern-day tablet. Permecrete, which is equivalent to concrete was also introduced.

Spice

Though Spice had been mentioned in the first Star Wars film, it wasn’t until 1994’s “Jedi Search” that spice was confirmed to be an illicit drug. Originally Lucasfilm wanted author Kevin J. Anderson to classify spice as a food additive- this would ensure that Han Solo could not be characterized as a drug smuggler. George Lucas, however, confirmed that spice was a drug and Anderson introduced Glitterstim, a popular illicit strain of spice. Of course smuggling isn’t the only thing Han Solo is good at, you can also find him at the gambling tables playing Sabaac (from the 1983 novel “Lando Calrissian and the Mindhard of Sharu”) or Pazaak (featured in the 2003 game “Knights of the Old Republic”)

Refresher

The 1994 Star Wars miniature game coined the phrase Aurebesh, which is the Star Wars alaphbet. In 1996, the novel “Shadows of the Empire” introduced fans to Caf, (the SW version of Coffee) and the Refresher (a sci-fi bathroom).

But what’s the point of talking about Star Wars speak without bringing up expletives. The Expanded Universe has certainly given us some juicy curse words.

The first Star Wars obscenity created for the EU was Stang featured in the 1978 novel “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye”. Ten years later Timothy Zahn invented Kriff, which is pretty much the word ‘frick’ spelled backwards and has a similar meaning. The phrase Sithspawn dates back to at least 1996, when it was featured in Michael A. Stackpole’s X-Wing novels. A more recent Star Wars swear is Karabast, first utilized by Zeb in “Rebels”- although keen-eared fans can hear the amphibious alien Pao use the phrase in “Rogue One” during the Battle of Scarif.

The couple-dozen phrases mentioned on this post are only the tip of the iceberg. I’m positive that I’ve missed some major SW vernacular. As with any language, the Star Wars language has been developing overtime and continues to develop with the release of each new film, novel, comic, and game.