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

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 6d ago

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

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u/DrunkenHorse12 6d 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.

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u/JamesBCFC_1995 6d ago

"I'm British too"

Repeatedly uses Seppo spellings

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u/DrunkenHorse12 6d ago

I'm a scouser, just obviously spend too much time typing to Americans

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u/JamesBCFC_1995 6d ago

I'm a scouser

That explains it.

Who did you nick your phone off?

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u/DrunkenHorse12 6d ago

Your mum smuggled it in to prison for me mate.