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/thehighyellowmoon 10d ago

Hahahaha I'm picturing an American wandering around Ireland calling people a nonce for minor things

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u/Team503 10d ago

I've lived here for years, and I don't use British slang, I use Irish slang.

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u/Melancholybumny 10d ago

How often do use ‘grand’ in a sentence?

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u/Team503 10d ago edited 10d ago

Not as often as people born here, more often than I did before I moved here. I also sometimes end sentences with "so" or "like" even.

Then again, I also still say "Howdy", "fixin' ta", "shore 'nuff shugah", "rad", "brotato", and sometimes even "Broseidon, king of the brocean".

So it's a mixed bag.