XXX is commonly used to designate a
pornographic movie. The
Motion Picture Association of America, which administers movie ratings (
G,
PG,
PG-13,
R, and
NC-17), doesn't have an XXX
rating. They recently changed the
X rating to the tamer
NC-17. Furthermore, I believe that the
MPAA has a
trademark on the movie ratings, and would likely
sue the
studio into submission if they used an X-Rating without going through the
expensive process of
earning an
X. So, instead, the studio slaps three X's in the name of the
movie, and everybody can pretty much figure out that its not gonna be a
Disney flick.
XXX is also seen in cartoony depictions of alcoholic beverages -- especially on the moonshiner's clay jug. Each X refers to each time the alcohol is run through the still. If you run it through three times, your alcohol usually ends up in the 150proof (75% ethyl alcohol) area (depending on the source, of course). XXX and XXXX moonshine will likely kill you. Not only does the alcohol dehydrate any cell it comes into contact with, but a true moonshine still was probably cobbled together from short pieces of copper tubing that were soldered together with lead. Three or four passes of high-grade alcohol will leach quite a bit of lead out.
This could be the source of the moonshiner stereotype. The old man sitting on his front porch, sipping from a little brown jug of hooch, shooting at the neighbors was probably drunk, dehydrated, and also dain bramaged.
Thanks to Robert Warren's page on alcohol stills. His still makes alcohol for fuel, where you NEED XXX or above. He wouldn't think of drinking it, even after mixing it 50/50 with fruit juice. http://journey_to_forever.tripod.com/CD/ethanol_robert4.html