In the United Kingdom and Australia, the term nonce (sometimes spelled "nonse") is a slang word used to refer to a sex offender and/or child sexual abuser.
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Usage in English prisons
Nonce first came into widespread use in UK prisons, where it is primarily used by prisoners to refer to convicted sex offenders, especially abusers of children. "Nonces" are traditionally targets of physical abuse from their prison inmates, and so usually go on Rule 45 (formerly Rule 43)[1] , the rule that enables the segregation of vulnerable prisoners from the other prisoners for their own safety. The Rule 45 section of British prisons in which sex offenders are segregated (also known as going on 'The Numbers' or, in rhyming slang, 'The Cucumbers') is often referred to as the "nonce wing".[2] [3]
Etymology
It is possible that it is an abbreviation of nonsense or nonsense case, perhaps derived as British prisoner slang for prisoners who have committed a "nonsense crime", as opposed to a crime such as theft.[2] [4]
In French nonce refers to the Papal Nuncios, representatives of the Roman Catholic church. In 17th century England, Papal officials were subject to anti-Catholic accusations of sexual impropriety and debauchery, so this is a potential origin.[5]
There is also evidence for a possible connection with nancy, a derogatory term referring to effeminate or homosexual males, and with a dialectical use of "nonse" to refer to a worthless person. [2]
Jeffrey Archer in A Prison Diary said that "Nonce" was an acronym for "Not Of Normal Criminal Element".
Other uses
In recent years the slang term nonce has come into more widespread use in the UK, particularly in the London area, and is often used by the British media to refer to convicted or suspected child sexual abusers.[6] Although the term nonce traditionally refers to sex offenders, it is also sometimes used as a general term of abuse, typically with "idiot" as its intended meaning.[7] [8]
References
- ^ "Introduction to Prisons". http://evilcity.wikispaces.com/Introduction+to+Prisons.
- ^ a b c "LISTSERV Discussion of origins of 'nonce'". http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0506a&L=ads-l&D=0&P=6698.
- ^ "'Nonce' on Everything2". http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=287124.
- ^ "LISTSERV Opera-L Archives". http://listserv.cuny.edu/Scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind9710a&L=opera-l&D=0&P=10849.
- ^ Template:Http://www.soufanieh.com/position.nonces.htm
- ^ "'Nonce' on Everything2". http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=287124.
- ^ "London Slang". http://www.londonslang.com/db/n/.
- ^ "Peevish Slang Dictionary". http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/n.htm.
External links
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