When "X" was born, at the beginning of the film rating board, all of the other letters stood for words, G, GP, R. I wonder why they chose "X"? It's been around for >3k years, so what gives?

It used to be a stand-in for "Christ," as in "Xmas."

If they referred to them as "adult" films, then they would get an "A" rating, but that would imply that they are "excellent." "P" was an obvious choice, but not all "X" is "P." If it were "A," but the film were hard-core "P," then it could get a triple "A" rating, but that would suggest that you HAD to see it, or that porn was getting into the bond market.

It could have been "HP," for "Hard-Core Porn." or "pr0n," as some would have it. Then Hewlett/Packard would have gone all legal all over Ventura, CA. I would have chosen ".hcp."

It's not fair. How "X" went from tic-tac-toe to
do-that-ho, I will never know! (There's a more appropriate rhyme for "tic," but Amie's proabably asleep, so I didn't.)


Always call the place you live a house. When you're old, everyone else will call it a home.