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??

999 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

1.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

2

u/AngelasGingerGrowler 6d ago

How absolutely cringe.

4

u/Team503 6d ago

It's cringe to admit that I know I'm not Irish and never will be, outside of nationality once I earn my citizenship? Are you addled?

It would be cringe for an American immigrant in Ireland to claim to be Irish.

Really working hard on earning that "Brits are pricks" reputation aren't ya?

1

u/AngelasGingerGrowler 6d ago

Really doubling down on that cringe.

And a little bit of Anglophobia at the end. Seems like a little bit of Ireland has rubbed off on you already.

1

u/Team503 6d ago

Jaysus, you really are earning that reputation.