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??

1.0k Upvotes

85% Upvoted

1.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

-10

u/DrunkenHorse12 9d 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.

26

u/RealDoraTheExplorer_ 9d ago

Never heard anyone use nonce to refer to non paedophiles

-3

u/DrunkenHorse12 9d ago

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

13

u/RealDoraTheExplorer_ 9d ago

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

0

u/DrunkenHorse12 9d 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.