X Marks The Spot
Meaning
Marking the scene of a crime with an X where the deed was done.
Origin
This cliché is from the earliest days of newspaper photography where the scene of the crime would be shown with an X to mark where the deed was done. It goes back even further in romantic accounts of such things as pirate treasure maps. The expression was being used jokingly by the 1920s and now can be found as a formula phrase.
