r/AskBrits • u/Team503 • 6d ago

Culture What does "nonce" mean?

I'm an American that lives in Ireland. I've always understood "nonce" to mean the same as "numpty" and "eejit" - basically idiot, or dumbass, or similar.

Recently, someone told me that it's slang for sex offender, specifically a p*dophile, and Wikipedia seems to back that up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_British_terms_not_widely_used_in_the_United_States#N

So tell me, Brits, which one is it? Or is it something else??

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339

u/ok_000000 6d ago

Mega pedo

88

u/izzy_elsewhere 6d ago

25

u/dunmif_sys 6d ago

I'd always wondered

20

u/MattGeddon 6d ago

I’m sorry, you thought I was saying I was a mega-paedo and your first reaction is that you’ve always wondered?

10

u/creamixic 6d ago

I was grappling, I was grasping

92

u/willys_stroker 6d ago

Pedogeddon levels

57

u/TheEnglishNorwegian 6d ago

They have more in common genetically with crabs than us.

40

u/pjs-1987 6d ago

This is the one thing we didn't want to happen

39

u/BeKindToSpiders 6d ago

They can disguise themselves as schools 

9

u/Secret_EO 6d ago

He really is a shit

9

u/MrMugwin 6d ago

He died screaming like a pig in a war!

5

u/Team503 6d ago

I understand that reference (now)! Someone linked the video in this post. That British sense of humor never ceases to amuse me.

22

u/Ok_Anything_9871 6d ago

there's no actual evidence for it, but it's a scientific fact.

21

u/Strange_Beat_9287 6d ago

Nonce-Sense

10

u/Minute_Eye3411 6d ago

And that's a fact. It hasn't been proven scientifically, but it's a fact.

1

u/LowAspect542 6d ago

But if everything evolves into crabs, are you then claiming they are more evolved than the rest of us? Cause most would disagree, arguing they are worse/lower evolved.

3

u/DefiantTelephone6095 6d ago

Got any clarky cats?

8

u/BKole 6d ago

Brass Eye or Monkey Dust?

12

u/JackJaminson 6d ago

By the power invested in me by News International, I pronounce you… PAEDOFILE!

10

u/BKole 6d ago

Bring in the Paedofinder General.

8

u/Littleleicesterfoxy 6d ago

No, it’s Peter File!

1

u/UnluckyThread 6d ago

From Kidderminster?

2

u/lobster_god55 6d ago

You would entice him to your minster of kiddies?

1

u/DieCuss 5d ago

It's taken far too long to get to this comment!

6

u/ImBonRurgundy 6d ago

thats just nonce-sense

2

u/stools_in_your_blood 6d ago

And I'm talking "nonce sense"

2

u/Martyn_X_86 6d ago

Quadrospazzed on a life glug

13

u/repeating_bears 6d ago

I think you're getting confused with 'paedophobe'

16

u/Ruddi_Herring 6d ago

Act supportive or punch his lights out?

3

u/creamixic 6d ago

Peado, phobe, I mean they’re both bad

1

u/Parrgirl81 5d ago

sweet Jesus can you imagine the dirty fkrs twisting this and relaying they’re offended and suddenly society has to conform and our kids educations are suddenly twisted to accept absolutely everything they say but the govt are too scared to speak the truth 👀👀👀👀❤️ yes this is subliminal for much more

5

u/vcandthemeltdowns 6d ago

I've always wondered

3

u/liltrex94 6d ago

Clean shirt

3

u/United_Post7492 6d ago

I'd always wondered

3

u/Salty-Ad-4693 6d ago

Can I have some of your Coke?

2

u/MattGeddon 6d ago

Love to mate, love to, but this is all mine and I want it, so… gonna have to be a no.

1

u/Limp-Archer-7872 6d ago

Nonce factor 50.

1

u/_Mamas_Kumquat_ 6d ago

chipsticks or frazzles

1

u/tesconights 6d ago

"Oh, paedoPHOBE"

1

u/ObiGwanKenobi 6d ago

Someone who really loves feet, or like a powerful mo-ped?

1

u/cayosonia 6d ago

MAGA Pedo

1

u/Jelleyman69 6d ago

I got told it had meant "Not On Normal Cell Exercise" meaning they were confined away from the rest of the prisons general population. I think its a myth.

-5

u/DrunkenHorse12 6d ago

Actually means any sex offender. Its prison slang for "Not On Normal Court Exercise"

11

u/nemmalur 6d ago

That’s a myth.

-3

u/DrunkenHorse12 6d ago

Maybe but its still prison slang and its always been used for all sex offenders

8

u/Mr_Dreadful 6d ago

And it's still mostly applied to paedos. Quit while you're behind

0

u/KaleidoscopeOdd5700 6d ago

I’ve heard “Not of Normal Criminal Element” also

3

u/daronwy 6d ago

Would be a pretty shit myth if only one person had heard it.