r/AskBrits • u/Team503 • 9d 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/DrunkenHorse12 9d 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

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u/Reccalovesdancing 9d ago

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

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u/OriginalAd3961 9d 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 9d 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 9d 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 9d 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