TenForward: Where Every Vulcan Knows Your Name

Ahh, but in Star Wars, "Light Speed" is exactly as fast as the plot demands. Checkmate, science dorks!

"The Infinite Improbability Drive is a wonderful new method of crossing interstellar distances in a few seconds, without all that tedious mucking about in hyperspace. As the Improbability Drive reaches infinite improbability, it passes through every conceivable point in every conceivable universe almost simultaneously. So you're never sure where you'll end up or even what species you'll be when you get there. It's therefore important to dress accordingly. The Drive was invented following research into finite improbability often used to break the ice at parties by making all the molecules in the hostess's undergarments leap one foot to the left in accordance with the theory of indeterminacy. Many physicists said they wouldn't stand for that sort of thing, partly because it debased science, but mostly because they didn't get invited to those sort of parties." Hitchhiker's Guide

But Ludicrous Speed is supreme to all other speeds. The Plaid Life is the life for me.

It could be the 40K fan in me, but warp speed sounds like a drug the inquisiton should take a look at.

The ship is actually not even moving. Space moves around the ship.

How fast can the Enterprise make the Kessel run?

Even as a kid I knew that, and hated the “light speed” references.

Later on, I justified it as imprecise use of language, which happens all the time anyway. “Light speed” became a generic term for “going super fast”. Or something.

I thought warp speed is the speed of light. Anything above warp 1.0 is faster than the speed of light.

It depends on your frame of reference.

From inside the ship, light speed is faster. You travel arbitrary distance in an instant.
Outside the ship, everyone else sees you moving 1 light year per year, but for passengers, the voyage is essentially a forward-only time machine.

From outside the ship, warp speed is faster. Observers will see the warp bubble with a ship inside it moving >1 light year per year, and because it will arrive at its destination before light from the ships own past will arrive there, it acts like a view-only backwards time machine.

To be clear, even if you're moving at 1000x the speed of light, and have figured out a way around relativity so that you don't have time dilation (and so you can, y'know, go faster than the speed of light), galactic distances are still so vast that interstellar traffic is largely not feasible. Our galaxy--one of billions, trillions, or more--is about 2M light years across. Going all the way across the galaxy at 1000x the speed of light would still take 2000 years.

"She'll make .5 past lightspeed."

Lightspeed seems to be a catch-all layterm that means the speed of light and everything faster. Hyperspace is a better description of what's happening. And different ships traverse hyperspace at different speeds depending on their engine.

"I've outrun Imperial starships. I don't mean the local bulk cruisers, I'm talking about the big Corellian ships now."

Which is faster? I guess it would depend on which ships you're comparing to each other.

Warp speed and light speed are overrated. It's all about rule of cool and Elite's Witch Space has the coolest name.

47 years later and I'm still not quite sure what "She can make point 5, past light speed." means.