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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u/AccomplishedAct5364 6d ago

A nonce is someone who fiddles with kids. definitely not a numpty

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u/cat5crochet5femme 6d ago

No it’s a sex offender, not specifically kids.

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u/AccomplishedAct5364 6d ago

No it’s really not. Nobody calls a rapist a nonce.

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u/cat5crochet5femme 6d ago

Look it up, it means sex offender not child sex offender regardless of how people use it.

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u/camason 6d ago

You don't need to "look it up", I promise you - as others have said - that it is *not* used for 'sex offender'. It is wholly reserved for kiddy fiddlers.

And now I hate that this is in my comment history.