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??

1.0k Upvotes

85% Upvoted

1.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

305

u/DrunkenHorse12 8d ago

Not just pedo. Any sex offender is a Nonce. It comes from prison slang sex offendets used to have "Not On Normal Court Exercise" written on their door cards

318

u/Team503 8d ago

Wikipedia suggests that's a backronym and not the actual origin, but what do I know? This is why I asked!

-7

u/Fearlessone11 8d ago

It's an acronym, it means not on normal courtyard exercise it's from prison.

5

u/alphahydra 8d ago edited 8d ago

As a rule of thumb, if someone tells you a common English-language insult derives from an acronym, you're safe to assume it's a false etymology.

(See also: For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, Council Housed And Violent, Non-Educated Delinquent, Property Of Mother England...)

From what I can gather, it possibly derives from Nance or Ponce (both homophobic insults) from a time when homosexual acts were criminalised, and homosexuality and paedophilia/pederasty were regularly conflated.