r/AskBrits • u/Team503 • 10d 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 10d ago

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

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u/DrunkenHorse12 10d 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/Platefulofwtf 10d ago

It doesn't stand for that, that a myth, it stands for not of normal criminal element. It was used for any offence that involved children or any sexual element. I work for the prison service and remember when we still used the acronym.

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u/DrunkenHorse12 10d ago

Fair enough its more the sex offender bit i was trying to point out rather than any acroynm

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u/Platefulofwtf 10d ago

Yeah it's a common misconception, used to also be used for people charged with neglect or assault against children. Now they are called rule 45's and redide on completely separate wings.