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In case you haven't heard, noted Deadpool guy Ryan Reynolds wants to make an "R-rated Star Wars" project. Because Reynolds kept mum on what would actually warrant an R-rating for that particular project, we're left to speculate on what type of content that could be. I'm not sure how much Reynolds knows about Star Wars outside of the movies and TV shows, but I'm also not really interested in gatekeeping. The dude could be a massive fan of the Darth Bane trilogy for all I know (and if so, good for him!). That said, I'm cursed with knowing more about Star Wars than anyone should, so I'm going to indulge in my darkest Star Wars skutch tendencies here. 

Whether or not Reynolds knows this, there's one obstacle to an R-rating for a story set in the Star Wars universe: curse words. While "shit" was said in the first season of Andor, it's been long established in canon Star Wars comics and books that the in-universe equivalent for the F-bomb is the word "kriff." For instance, throughout Ethan Sacks and Paolo Villanelli's excellent Star Wars: Bounty Hunters comic book series from Marvel, rough around the edges bounty hunters like Beilert Valance regularly say, "kriff it" or "kriffin'" when they're upset. Obviously, the Bounty Hunters comic is geared towards an audience in their teens and above, but there's a reason why Star Wars has chosen to invent a new word instead of bleeping out their foul-mouthed characters like they're on MTV in the mid-2000s. It helps with the cultural immersion. 

"Kriff" was first used by author Timothy Zahn in the 1998 novel, Vision of the Future. That book now exists in "Legends" continuity, because it isn't a movie and came out before Lucasfilm was bought by Disney, rendering its contents non-canonical. But because Star Wars storytellers, historically, haven't been interested in this divide between canon and non-canon (if you don't believe me, then just look at the sourcebook for the 1986 Star Wars TTRPG), it isn't surprising that "kriff" would eventually get picked up by writers like Ethan Sacks in canon stories. "Kriff" has also made the jump to live action, where it was said in two episodes of Skeleton Crew on Disney+. Outside of "kriff," the Huttese swear word "poodoo" first popped up in 1999's The Phantom Menace. 

It's also worth noting that in Legends continuity, "kriff" was used back in Old Republic times, as we can glean from Drew Karpyshyn's Darth Bane book trilogy. In official canon, it was used back during the High Republic era, as we can see in Zoraida Córdova's Convergence novel. If you need a specific year, that would be 382 BBY. Currently, the Star Wars books and comics still have to build out the events of the Old Republic, so I suspect that in the years to come, we'll be seeing a lot more of it in ye olden times.

Get to know, understand, and love the Star Wars franchise more with our Star Wars watch order, guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies & TV shows, and all the Star Wars movies and Star Wars TV shows ranked.