star wars - Kessel Run in 12 parsecs: screenplay error, or part of the movie?

I know this has been a long debated question among Star Wars enthusiasts, but when Han Solo said that he made the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs did he actually know what he was talking about?

During the scene Han really does seem to be talking about the time it took him to make the run. When he is talking to Obi Wan he is trying to persuade him that the Falcon is the fastest ship in the Galaxy, but if he were truly referring to the distance he made the run in, it would be more referring to his pilot skills, not the ship's speed. Could it have been that he just misspoke, or was his "I made it in 12 parsecs" really referring to the distance of the run.

This wiki article agrees with the latter of the two:

Solo was not referring directly to his ship's speed when he made this claim. Instead, he was referring to the shorter route he was able to travel by skirting the nearby Maw black hole cluster, thus making the run in under the standard distance.

All of the contradicting pieces of evidence have made me wonder:

Did Han know what a parsec was?

Was he just trying to impress Obi Wan with big words, not knowing who he was talking to?

Was it an error in the screen play?

Comments

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