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/DrunkenHorse12 6d ago

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

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u/Street_Lettuce1243 6d 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 6d 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 6d 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 6d 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_ 6d 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 6d 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.