Nonce!

[Zampa]

Quick Quiz time.

Where does the word 'nonce' come from?

There are quite a few variants..I always thought it someone who was a nonsense...a nothing a non event..a nobody..apparently not.

No googling....

 

[mlb3c]

may have different meaning there...I thought it had to do with numbers used once....or single use of numbers as in a sequence...

 

[JohnD]

Not
On
Normal
Courtyard
Exercise

(chalk it on your cell door)

 

[Zampa]

Both technically right..

JohnD..that does seem to be the most popular British definition allthough I dont know how much of it is folklore...any prison wardens in tonight?

Slang is fascinating...all countries have it but it seems like the UK and Austrailia seem to be in a class of their own.

 

[markie]

nonce around my way relates to a man who likes other men,

 

[corgiman]

I always thought a nonce was a man who lived of the earnings of a pro (pimp) or a kiddie diddler hence Johns answer, they did not want the other cons to kill them

 

[hermes]

I thought it was a small marsupial only living in the deepest forests of Madagascar!

 

[Nige F]

I always thought a nonce was a man who lived of the earnings of a pro (pimp)

........That`s Ponce afaik Pimp is firewood or small stick