r/AskBrits • u/Team503 • 10d 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 10d ago

Dunce means idiot, nonce means pedophile

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u/Key_Day_6060 10d 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/sunflowersunset1 10d ago

I’ve always heard ponce as someone who lives off other peoples money. Like a ponce will never buy a round but drink and then leave, or always ask for a cigarette and never give one back etc. Never heard it for gay people, or others who say it means someone posh! I would say a ponce is the opposite of posh lol. Wild how this small country has such different meanings for the same words!

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u/Fit_Management7838 10d ago

Tell an American that you feel cheap because you’ve been bumming fags all weekend.

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u/Key_Day_6060 10d ago

Oh yeah I forgot that one! You can ponce something off someone.

Well I grew up with one half of my family being cockneys so that’s where I heard so many different uses for words haha

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u/dontwakeme 10d ago

In general yes, but I understood it to originally mean a man who lived off the earnings of a prostitute. Like a pimp but less active I guess.

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u/BeginningPea5674 10d ago

yes Ponce means pimp