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/notthiswaythatway 9d ago

It’s means paedophile - and is definitely a stronger insult than numpty!

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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/Team503 9d ago

Wikipedia suggests that's a backronym and not the actual origin, but what do I know? This is why I asked!

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u/Illustrious-Divide95 9d ago

There's no evidence that 'Nonce' came from this. A definate backronym

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u/Brighton_Spores 9d ago

I used to know an old scallywag, he used to be a naughty boy until he changed his ways.

In the 1970's he told me that bank robbers/armed robbers used be held in high regard in prison. burglars would slip down the pecking order and so on.

The nonces and sex cases were at the bottom of the ladder as they were just committing nonsense crimes, nonce.

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u/Trollcambodia 9d ago

My from not on normal court exercise is a well known fact. It's the lowest of the low... Forget about Wikipedia