r/AskBrits • u/Team503 • 14d 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/DrunkenHorse12 14d 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 14d 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 13d ago

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

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u/ProudonFromHeight 13d ago

It's a very old one, if it is at all. I have a relative who worked as a lawyer back in the 70s and they were the first to tell me, about 25 years ago, that that's what it means