so i have a simple file called -x and i need it renamed to x

now i dont understand why when using the most basic methods, only the code

mv ./-x x

mv -x x passes option -x to command mv. that is not what you are intended to do
mv ./-x x does the job - since you mentioned relative path, which solved the "passing option to the command" problem

Quoting is to prevent interpretation by the shell, whereas option processing is handled by the program itself. The shell strips and discards quotes, so mv doesn't even see a difference between "-"x and -x (and /-/x is, frankly, neither here nor there).

i see, thank both of you for clearing this up for me, it is very much appreciated

im sure ill run into you lot more as i go on and on with unix. im the definition of noob at the moment

and what about using \ ?

mv \-x x <---

broli: it's the same as quoting; it only prevents interpretation by the shell.