Just look at today’s date. An irritating greeting is going to be everywhere today and I’m bracing myself against unfriending two-thirds of my Facebook friends as they repeat it over and over and over!
May the fourth has become known as Star Wars day so everyone will be writing and saying, “May the fourth be with you”. It was once a slightly amusing pun based on what’s arguably the most famous line from Star Wars, next to, “Luke, I am your father.” But every year more and more people discover it and think it’s original and clever. And this year, it might bring a tear to the eye of the die-hard Star Wars fan, because another movie is due out in December. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is set for a Dec. 18 release date and it features all of the original stars.
May the fourth be with you was actually coined in political circles. In 1979, two years after the first Star Wars film, the Conservative party in the UK took out a newspaper ad to congratulate Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on her election victory. “May the fourth be with you, Maggie”, is how it read. I wish that bit of trivia would take the cool factor out of using the phrase, but it won’t. Even a force field won’t protect me from getting irritated by it. May as well join them. May the fourth, you know.