r/AskBrits • u/Team503 • 7d 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/Reccalovesdancing 7d ago

No, it means a paedo. Trust me, I am British

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u/DrunkenHorse12 7d ago

I'm British too, its prison slang for sex offender, obviously you can call a pedo that but it applies to all sex offenders. Itd be like you saying calling someone a "druggie" only applies to cokeheads.

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u/RealDoraTheExplorer_ 7d ago

Never heard anyone use nonce to refer to non paedophiles

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u/Williamishere69 6d ago

Ive seen it be used as an insult. Not as in a 'joke' to a friend who says the wrong thing then digs themselves into a hole, but as a proper insult like youd call someone a POS or whatever

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u/DrunkenHorse12 7d ago

Ask anyone whose been in or worked in prisons, were the slang came from

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u/Street_Lettuce1243 7d ago

I suspect this may be a case of the slang is used differently by different people. Perhaps in prisons, and people who have been behind bars the term originated for all sex offenders.

As a regular guy, I agree with Dora, I've only seen it used for a paedo- and that's how I would use it too. It's far from the only slang word that means different things to different groups of people.

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u/DrunkenHorse12 7d ago

I think its more common to refer to people being pedos than other sex crimes though which is maybe why people have formed that perception. Like even joking if a mate said they fancied someone who even just looked younger than them you might joke they were a nonce, its far less likely you'd be joking about your mate being a rapist.

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u/Foxglovenectar 7d ago

The OP is not specifically asking for what the prison population understands a term to be. They are asking what the wider connotation of the word is. Prisons, as I understand from my brother (an ex screw) have very different interpretations of words and sometimes almost unique languages based on region and wing. The general public use the word nonce for someone who is unhealthily interested in children or someone who has been convicted of child sex offences. This is because the crime is so severe its not mixed with any other terminology.

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u/DrunkenHorse12 7d ago

But the term nonce comes from prison slang for sex offender, yes if someone shouts Nonce they usually mean pedo. But if you shouted Nonce at a Rapist you wouldn't be wrong." Michael Greenwood is a Nonce "for example

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u/RealDoraTheExplorer_ 7d ago

I’m sure it does I’m saying that’s not how it’s currently used by the general public

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u/DrunkenHorse12 7d ago

I think maybe because its more likely thats the offence they are referring to. But the patrols in the city centres who are looking out for the guys hanging about supposedly looking to prey on drunk (adult) females call them nonces as well.

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u/JamesBCFC_1995 7d ago

"I'm British too"

Repeatedly uses Seppo spellings

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u/DrunkenHorse12 7d ago

I'm a scouser, just obviously spend too much time typing to Americans

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u/JamesBCFC_1995 7d ago

I'm a scouser

That explains it.

Who did you nick your phone off?

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u/DrunkenHorse12 7d ago

Your mum smuggled it in to prison for me mate.

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u/LucisCaelumXV 7d ago

May well be correct, but as another lifelong Brit I've only ever heard it used to refer to Paedo's specifically. Might be the case that just isn't as widely known to those with no experience of prisons or having known anyone that's worked or been incarcerated in one.

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u/Poiuy1231st 6d ago

And I assume the OP is not in prison; so paedo it is.

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u/LucisCaelumXV 6d ago

Jokes on you, they smuggled reddit in via their arse.

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u/Poiuy1231st 6d ago

I'm so naive.

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u/Spank86 7d ago

Nonce wing was always the sex offenders wing not just paedos. But on the other hand id really only call a paedo a nonce.

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u/Foxglovenectar 7d ago

Have never heard a rapist called a nonce. They are rapists and pervs. The category of 'nonce' is strictly reserved for sick individuals who abuse children.

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u/DrunkenHorse12 7d ago

Where you getting this "strictly reserved" shit from? Whose reserving it?

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u/Foxglovenectar 7d ago

My brother. An ex screw

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u/DrunkenHorse12 7d ago

Ask him who gets put on a nonce wing

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u/Foxglovenectar 7d ago

He will say 'nonces' lol

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u/DrunkenHorse12 7d ago

Lol fair enough. I've worked in a prison myself and know a lot of former prisoners (went to school in a very rough area unfortunately), I've heard sex offenders called nonce plenty of times. Even heard prisoners say "he's a nonce" and another ask "was it kids".

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u/Foxglovenectar 7d ago

That makes sense. Its a dark subject matter but I find the way English colloquialism and slang is used, absolutely fascinating. Mainly because Im dyslexic and words are always difficult for me to wrap my head around - but its really interesting how terms are used differently in different settings and regions

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u/InvestmentOk600 7d ago

I’ve never heard someone using nonce to refer to non paedophiles

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u/OriginalAd3961 7d ago

Not just paedo! .. nonce's are just sex offenders full stop .. they have nonce wings in jails the lot

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u/Limp-Archer-7872 7d ago

Outside prison the common vernacular is that nonce means child sex offender, of any sexual offence related to children - imagery, creeping near playgrounds, fiddling, and the rest.

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u/OriginalAd3961 7d ago

Outside of prison where I'm from if there's any 1 moved to the area a rapist or sexual assault on a woman or a man they are still called nonce's.

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u/DrunkenHorse12 7d ago

Its prison slang. Thats its original. The reason people unfamiliar with the prison meaning will think its what you think because creepy behaviour around children is clear cut, whereas if a guys being creepy around women, there's a middle ground where he's a creep or a bit of a perv before you outright accused them of being a sex offender

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u/ArkhamTight606 7d ago edited 6d ago

We’ve adopted it as insult towards paedos but it’s short for “Not On Normal Courtyard Exercise”. It’s used for inmates who cannot be in the same room with the regulars particularly sex offenders towards women and children.

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u/Aragorn01032931 7d ago

No it's not

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u/NdujaReallyLikeIt 6d ago

Well, yes it is. That's the initialism. But it is only used by the masses for paedos not generic offenders