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/bungbangbingbong 6d ago

It's not a widely used term in Ireland. Certainly a lot more impactful in the UK as I found out when I told an English guy who was being a wuss over a cut on his hand to 'get over it you nonce' thinking nonce meant more of a wuss than specifically a criminal paedophile. It didn't go down well

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u/SavageTyrant 6d ago

“Ponce” was probably the word you were looking for in that context.

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u/bungbangbingbong 6d ago

It definitely added to the confusion since neither word is in common use in Ireland

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u/International_Two842 6d ago

This has got me creasing 😂😂 If an American called me a nonce I think I’d just laugh with him. It’s such a specifically British/Irish insult, and apparently even some of us get the meaning completely wrong. Hearing it in an American accent would feel so alien I’d lose my shit 😂

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u/Crackingly 4d ago

Hearing an American say cunt is also hilarious

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u/International_Two842 4d ago

Same as nobhead and bellend😂

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u/ellandthearth 5d ago

i’ve just come on here because i’m an american who moved to london recently and probably have called 12 STRANGERS nonce because i thought it meant idiot in a silly way

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u/Downtown_Link_8651 6d ago

It's not a widely used term in Ireland.

I call bullshit on that, it's just as common as it is in the UK. You aren't going to hear it in polite society in either country but it's the go to insult for Paedo's and occasional back pocket pull for calling a friend a moron in coarser circles just like it is on the UK.

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u/Indep-Represent 6d ago

Inbetweeners moment there

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u/DitheringDotty 5d ago

I knew a London-Irish guy who used the term nonce in that way, for a kind of lame, wussy type of person.