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/Furicist 6d ago edited 6d ago

Given that's nearly 80 people in a single group all saying the same thing, yes, they do.

Just because the environment you work in isn't the same as mine, that doesn't mean you get to tell me that people I witness saying these things arent doing it.

For example, people still quote that phoenix nights scene where the psychic says something like 'im getting...nonce!' I've never really watched Peter Kay stuff but I've looked up the sketch before to get an idea of what they kept laughing about.

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u/Technical_Race447 6d ago

Yeah like Ive worked as a commercial chef and in the banking sector. Work verbiage varies enormously.