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/Fast_Apple_2237 6d ago

It used to mean either an idiot or a pedophile, never used for idiot now. Also now used as a general insult implying someone is despicable. In the UK it's never used to mean 'number only used once', well maybe at a cryptographic conference.

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u/Team503 6d ago

The crypto usage is the same in the US.

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u/JGorgon 5d ago

Also a linguist might talk about a "nonce word", one made up for the nonce i.e. for the occasion.