People in the comments being shocked in finding out that British people call each other pedo as a general insult and no, they didn't mean idiot is really fucking funny.
I’m Australian and a bit confused because I have never once heard any Australian use nonce to mean stupid and nonce in general isn’t that common of a word here.
Genetically, pedophiles have more genes in common with crabs than you and me. Now that is scientific fact. There's no real evidence to prove it, but it is scientific fact.
To you, this may look like an ordinary picture of a field. But in the background is a 4-year-old girl, and if you try to show this picture to a paedophile, they will immediately attack it.
In the UK a paedophile (pee-do-file) is called a nonce. No-one knows where the term comes from originally except that it is used in the prison system for a sex offender. Some say it stand for non-conformist or not of natural civil etiquette. Some suggest it is a derivative of a ‘70s term ‘nance’, short for ‘nancyboy’ but no-one is entirely sure.
A nonce in Australian slang is an idiot, probably a misinterpretation of the British term. A sex offender in Australian slang is called a rock spider.
As an american, I'm on the other end. I've only heard the word in reference to pedos or pedo activity. This word isn't even rare for UK people. They say and use it all the time online
Nah, Kiwi chiming in here. Even here we know that word is implying nonsery.
Now someone could be a bit of a silly twit, and you call them a nonse, or a nonser, in a playful less-than serious manner,
possibly rooted in the etymology of nonsense (I ain't looking that up),
but when more serious, calling someone a nonse DOES imply you 'is an up hill gardner. You is playin' for de other team. You is de only adult in da kiddy pool, yous a shifta, a ducky. You open de crisps at de wrong end. Yous a batty boy. YOUS A BATTY BOY AY NOW BRUVV"
I've also only known "nonce" to be something you call an idiot, but I am not from the UK.. even though Googling it, it does say it's commonly used as a way to call someone an idiot
I could've sworn I've heard people on British panel shows calling each other nonces in a playful manner, but I wonder if I only heard them say it about people they don't like who weren't present, like politicians. Fortunately I didn't have to learn the hard way, but I almost did 😅
This is like how soccer came into being and subsequently out of fashion in the UK originally it came from rich oxford (where English dictionary is formalised) kids who used to call rugby football/ rugby football/ruggers who wanted to differentiate it for what poors called football and was very popular. Still the vast majority of the country called it football.
This is the opposite nonce did mean idiot to upper class people but the working class co-opted it to mean gay and eventually to pdf
That’s everything these days, can’t go into ANYTHING without some sort of ragebait/click/clip farming. Shit makes people dumber and makes them radicalized depending on the day an algorithm felt like giving you it and it keeps feeding you it.
Hell I’m to blame to because I haven’t even join LSF, Reddit just recommends it because I’ve seen a few clips lmao.
Same, I’m American but grew up with a good amount of media from the UK. The show Skins, I was really into UK dubstep and DnB back when that was popular.
Always heard that term used, and I always assumed it meant “idiot”
I was a 15 year old to be fair or some teen age. Maybe my mind didn’t really understand it at that point.
Also, I’ve heard many UK people use the term “pedo” directly. So “nonce” sounds like “dunce” or just a general word for a bad person. While I would assume they would just use “pedo” if they meant that.
Think it’s origin was a designation for paedophiles in prison ‘not of normal criminal element’
Might be bullshit but who knows, either way means paedo lol
Edit; you can stop telling me the acronym you’ve heard is ‘Not on Normal Courtyard excercise’, turns out whatever you’ve heard it was an acronym for is basically a myth lmao
Tbh after doing a few mins of googling it appears they’re all wrong, Not Of Normal Criminal Element, Not On Normal Courtyard Exercise, Not Of Normal Criminal Enterprise, Not Of Normal Criminal Ethic etc etc
These are essentially etymological myths/backronyms and there’s no evidence that the word is an acronym for any of these things or first used because of it
I've been listening to Finn vs history and as an Australian I've heard the word nonce but it wasn't till they started talking about Jimmy Savile that I realised what it actually meant. It is an oddly fun word to say for such a gross thing
Yeah it sounded like idiot in the way I've heard Brits use it in videos arguing or whatever. The reactions to getting called a nonce are far tamer than I'd expect.
It's a go to insult. If you arent finishing your pint when its time for the next round? Nonce. If you aren't willing to walk 2 miles to the next pub? Fucking nonce. Disagree with the rest of the group over an offside decision? Check his hard drive.
I'm starting to think the Brits are just casually calling people pedophiles in a way Americans would interpret as "idiot". Like if someone cuts you off in traffic, Americans would be like "what a moron", but the brits are like "what a pedophile" lmao
People use whatever insult here doesn't matter if it's true or not. Nonce means peado but if I'm calling you a nonce it doesn't always mean you are one, it's just insulting
I won’t speak for the whole U.S. but on the east coast it means idiot or dummy. Some U.S t.v. Show in the 70s or 80s must not have done their homework on British slang I guess.
Yeah, there must have been lol. I've gone 27 years thinking it just meant idiot lmao. I've heard it used in such casual context before that would NEVER warrant calling someone a pedophile so im sure ive just heard it used incorrectly, especially being from Texas. We're not known for being great at word.
The words not used to call someone an idiot but you can use it as an general insult against someone you don't like. If anything it's used someone who is weird, basically as a way of saying you weird like pedo.
Doesn't the word in the US still come from the word "spastic"? I'm Dutch myself, but it always seemed very questionable to me how Americans use that word.
it does. no idea what that guy is going on about. i had to look up what the UK meaning is... and it's the same as american, except americans dont view it as a slur. same meaning, less severity
Am I tripping ? I swear to God I've heard "nonce" used as a generic insult like "idiot" many, many times in media with none of this pedo undertone ? Is it just a UK thing ?
So it's just normal to call people pedophiles as an insult? It's bizarre because every context I've heard "nonce" be used is as a (fairly casual) insult where it could be interchanged with "idiot" or "dumbass."
Yeah I gotta say this one is on the brits for using such a harsh word so casually. Who the fuck casually calls his mate a pedo and they all laugh?? I also assumed it was tame like idiot.
It always means peado but it gets shouted at people who are not peados in anger. Like how someone on Xbox might call you a "bundle of kindling" if you're winning too much, even if they didn't think you were really homosexual. It is on a much, much higher level than "idiot" though, and while someone might say "I'm such an idiot" they will never say "I'm such a nonce" if they did something dumb.
Calling a friend a nonce might mean they're an idiot, like any insult might.
Calling someone you don't know well or at all a nonce always means they're a child abuser.
Calling yourself a nonce definitely implies the latter.
Nonce always meant pedo. It also makes sense why he would make that mistake, the brits throw that around way too often for a very serious allegation. I'd say this misinterpretation is just because of how casually it is used.
Well, I haven't been using that word to describe anyone fortunately, but I am very surprised Nonce means pedophile. AND that its not a new Gen Z flip on the word. Apparently its been that way for a while.
Depending on context, being called an insulting term in Britain can either be a sign of good affection or be an indicator that you're a right wrong-un.
Like, if I call my mate Stav from down the pub a nonce, that's fine. He's a good lad like and everyone knows what he's like. If I call a random twat I don't know a nonce though either they or me is about to get their head kicked in.
British banter, it's common to insult your friends even using the worst terminology possible as a joke. Nobody is offended as everyone knows that nobody actually means anything by it, the insult isn't meant to be taken seriously.
Ok as a brit plenty of people here use the most vile words possible to wind up their friends and insult them and it all gets laughed off, but if you called the wrong person/a stranger a nonce they might decide you need a few extra dents in your skull.
I used to do this until my UK friends let me know what the word actually meant. Before that, I used to just use the word nonce as a playful jab because, to me, it sounded like a silly word that probably didn't have any real meaning.
Sounds about right that an idiot wouldn’t know the UK slang for ‘idiot’.
Also, it is a bit of news to me that ‘Nonce’ in UK is to distinguish a pedo or sex criminal, but in Australia, it is typically used to describe an idiot or dumbass, so that’s new.
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u/LSFSecondaryMirror Feb 02 '26
CLIP MIRROR: KSI’s whole mood changed and almost got out of the car after JasonTheWeen called himself the WORST term in UK slang possible
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