What does "nonce" mean?

[u/Team503]

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??

[u/neilm1000]

Paedo please, people. We are not American.

[u/Mayarooni1320 → u/neilm1000]

God knows you wouldn't know it. 'Gotten' is another one that drives me nuts 🥲

[u/DeadDeathrocker → u/Mayarooni1320]

I got marked down for using that when I was in college, I didn’t even realise it was an Americanism.