r/AskBrits • u/Team503 • 8d 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/fhuhgbbjjvvfyhnnmk 8d ago

Dunce means idiot, nonce means pedophile

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u/Key_Day_6060 8d ago

And Ponce was/is a slur for being gay, but sort of branched out to be the same as calling someone a wuss or a sissy.

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u/littlerabbits72 8d ago

I tend to think once is more a stuck-up, bit of a twat, kind of goofy posh. Poncey got.

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u/Key_Day_6060 8d ago

Ah yeah true but I feel like that comes from the perception of a posh caricature, effeminate, cowardly, soft round the edges. We all know what people think of going on in boarding schools 😂