(this may or may not belong here but since I am looking for a factual answer I am posting here)
Is there any kind of scientifc significance about the plaid joke ? (My roomate insist there is) IMHO they are just making fun of the way movies portray faster than light travle …
The only one I can think of is the Red Shift but that’s stretching it 
thanks in advance
Nope, not that I am aware of.
I’m pretty sure it’s just a joke on the “stars turning into bright lines” cliché. How many people would get a red shift joke?
I never found any significance to the plaid joke, other than a simple way to make fun of light speed portrayal in other movies.
Purely a made up term for the movie, but it was a good one!
Probably just nonsense, but very funny. My wife and I use the term all the time for something that’s gone over the edge, or too much, too far, etc.
It seems to have an analogy in fashion - ie, who wears plaid unless they’ve gone nuts?
Scots?
LUDICROUS SPEED!
So what’s wrong with wearing plaid?
We can’t stop now, we have to slow down first!
This, however, did have significance, if you missed it. It’s a joke on the fact that “light” can also mean “humorous.” So, what’s faster than light? Ludicrous, obviously!
That was probably blazingly obvious, but I had to show off anyway, since it took me a few viewings to figure it out.