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Nonce

Nonce is a derogatory slang term in British English, chiefly used within prison environments and broader vernacular to denote a sexual offender, particularly one convicted of or suspected in crimes against children.^[1]^[2] The word emerged in the mid-20th century as prison jargon for inmates requiring segregation due to the heightened risk of assault from the general population, reflecting the intense social stigma attached to such offenses.^[3] Its etymology remains uncertain, with popular accounts attributing it to the acronym "Not On Normal Courtyard Exercise"—indicating restricted yard access for safety—though linguistic analyses propose alternative roots in dialectal terms for a "stupid" or "worthless" person, predating the acronym explanation.^[4]^[3] In usage, labeling someone a nonce carries severe implications, often invoking vigilante responses or social ostracism outside penal contexts, as the term equates the individual with predatory behavior toward minors.^[5] This connotation underscores a cultural intolerance for child sexual abuse, where perpetrators face not only legal penalties but also informal retribution, sometimes leading to documented cases of targeted violence against those rumored or identified as such. The term's specificity to the United Kingdom limits its recognition elsewhere, though it has gained occasional international notice through media portrayals of British criminality.^[6] Despite its prevalence, nonce lacks formal endorsement in legal or psychological classifications, serving instead as a raw, colloquial marker of moral condemnation rooted in empirical patterns of inmate subcultures and societal norms.^[7]

Etymology

Acronym Origin in Prisons

In British prison systems, the term "nonce" is proposed to derive from the acronym NONCE, signifying "Not On Normal Courtyard Exercise," a designation applied to inmates deemed vulnerable to attacks during communal activities.^[8] This protocol instructed staff to withhold such prisoners from standard yard time, with the letters marked on cell cards or doors to signal isolation and avert inadvertent releases amid general population movements.^[9] The measure extended beyond sex offenders to other at-risk categories, such as informants or debtors, but became synonymous with segregating those convicted of sexual crimes, particularly against children, due to their elevated victimization rates.^[8] The acronym's introduction is commonly attributed to HMP Wakefield, a high-security facility housing serious offenders, where it emerged around the year 2000 according to prison staff recollections documented in media investigations.^[8] ^[4] Accounts from former officers describe NONCE as a practical shorthand in the facility's administrative routines, ensuring separation to mitigate subcultural reprisals against perceived moral transgressors.^[10] This usage reflected causal imperatives rooted in prison dynamics, where empirical patterns of inmate assaults—disproportionately targeting sex offenders—necessitated formalized protections to maintain order and prevent vigilante justice.^[11] Linguistic analyses, however, classify the NONCE expansion as a potential backronym, with the slang predating explicit documentation and possibly retrofitted to an established term for vulnerable prisoners.^[12] Inmate memoirs and staff testimonies from the era, including those referenced in Channel 5's 2024 documentary HMP Wakefield: Evil Behind Bars, reinforce the acronym's role in operational segregation at Wakefield, though broader adoption across UK facilities solidified its association with sex offender isolation by the early 2000s.^[4]^[9]

Alternative Derivations from Slang Terms

One alternative etymology posits that "nonce" derives from "nance" or "nancy boy," established British slurs from the early 1900s for effeminate or homosexual men, which by the mid-20th century extended in underworld slang to signify perceived sexual deviance more broadly.^[13] ^[14] This connection appears in a 1984 Police Review entry explicitly stating the term "originally derived from 'nancy-boy'," reflecting phonetic shortening and semantic broadening in criminal dialects where effeminacy was equated with predatory behavior.^[14] In British prison and street argot of the 1970s, "nonce" emerged as a variant, predating acronym folk etymologies like "Not On Normal Courtyard Exercise," with early citations including Peter Willmott's 1971 study Adolescent Boys of East London, which records "nonces" alongside "nancies" as terms for unpopular figures due to perceived weakness or deviance.^[13] Semantic shifts likely arose from causal associations in subcultures viewing non-heteronormative traits as markers of threat, distinct from the unrelated Middle English "nonce" meaning "for the occasion," which lacks evidence of slang influence despite occasional revisionist claims.^[14] Dialectal records prioritize this slur-based origin over neutral or sanitized interpretations, as verified in slang lexicons documenting underworld evolution without reliance on later prison policy rationalizations.^[13] By the late 1970s, usage solidified in contexts like Tony Parker's Frying-Pan (1977), applying "nonce" to sexual criminals as a pejorative underscoring social ostracism.^[13]

Earliest Documented Uses

The earliest documented attestation of "nonce" denoting a sexual offender, particularly against children, occurs in a 1971 handwritten notebook compiling British prison slang, which defines it as "nonse: sexual offender against children, pariahs in prison."^[15] This entry, cited in the Oxford English Dictionary, represents the term's inaugural recorded use within correctional environments, predating its broader pejorative application and unrelated to earlier senses like the adverbial "for the nonce" (indicating temporariness, from Middle English for þanne 'for the then') or nonce words as linguistic hapax legomena.^[16] Prison slang compilations from the late 1970s and 1980s, such as those in borstal and incarceration lexicons, reinforce this specialization, portraying "nonce" as a marker for segregated inmates vulnerable to intra-prison violence due to the perceived severity and revulsion toward their offenses.^[17] These sources highlight causal dynamics in facilities like those in the UK prison system, where empirical segregation practices—driven by inmate hierarchies rather than formal policy—fostered the term's entrenchment as a distinct epithet for child sex offenders, independent of acronym theories lacking contemporary evidence.^[12]

Historical Context

Emergence in British Prison Culture

The term "nonce" arose in British prison subculture during the late 1970s amid escalating inmate hierarchies that positioned child sex offenders as the most despised group, subject to routine physical targeting by other prisoners enforcing informal codes of conduct.^[18] This reflected broader dynamics in overcrowded facilities, where population surges—UK prison numbers rose from around 40,000 in 1970 to over 50,000 by 1985—intensified resource competition and vigilante retribution against perceived moral deviants.^[19] In prisons like HMP Wakefield, known for housing high-risk inmates, such offenders faced assaults stemming from a near-universal inmate aversion to child predation, rooted in evolved social norms prioritizing kin protection over abstract equity.^[4] Prison administrators responded by formalizing segregation protocols, marking cells of vulnerable prisoners—including nonces—with notices like "NONCE" as shorthand for "Not On Normal Courtyard Exercise," ensuring separation from general population mixing to avert violence.^[20] This practice, documented in facilities such as Wakefield around the turn of the millennium but tracing to earlier 1970s usage, evolved into dedicated "vulnerable prisoner units" or wings, reducing targeted incidents by isolating high-risk individuals under Rule 45 (later Rule 46) of prison regulations.^[8] Ministry of Justice data underscores the efficacy, with segregated sexual offenders experiencing lower victimization rates compared to mainstream placement, though the term itself perpetuated stigma within inmate lore.^[21] Empirical patterns confirm nonces as disproportionate assault victims; while exact figures vary, prison reports link 10-20% of adjudicated assaults to inter-prisoner targeting of sexual offenders, driven by cultural disgust rather than random conflict, contrasting with lower risks for fraud or drug convicts.^[22] This emergence tied administrative pragmatism to raw inmate realism, prioritizing violence mitigation over rehabilitation ideals, as evidenced by persistent segregation reliance despite overcrowding critiques.

Expansion Beyond Incarceration

The term "nonce" began permeating British public discourse from the 1990s, as television documentaries and tabloid journalism increasingly exposed prison subcultures, inadvertently disseminating inmate slang to wider audiences. Coverage of correctional facilities, including segregation protocols for vulnerable prisoners, highlighted the derogatory label applied to sex offenders, transitioning it from internal prison vernacular to colloquial usage outside confinement. This leakage was accelerated by sensationalized reporting on criminal justice failures, embedding the term in everyday language among the general populace.^[23] In the 2000s, the advent of internet forums facilitated further normalization, with users adopting "nonce" to denounce individuals suspected of sexual misconduct, often extending it to pre-conviction allegations amid discussions of high-profile scandals. Platforms enabled rapid dissemination, decoupling the term from its carceral origins and applying it to societal figures perceived as threats, particularly in contexts revealing institutional oversights in offender management. By the 2010s, social media amplified this trend, where viral outrage over child exploitation cases prompted widespread, informal labeling of alleged perpetrators as "nonces," reflecting heightened public scrutiny independent of formal verdicts.^[24] This expansion aligned with empirical evidence of recidivism challenges among sex offenders, as Ministry of Justice data indicated persistent reoffending risks—such as sexual reconviction rates averaging 7-10% within specified follow-up periods for adult offenders released from custody—contrasting with undetected prevalence estimates in broader criminological studies. High-profile incidents, including those exposing prior unreported complaints against perpetrators, eroded trust in elite-driven narratives of rehabilitation efficacy, spurring grassroots vigilance and the term's prophylactic role in informal community signaling.^[25]^[26]

Primary Usage

Application to Sex Offenders

The term "nonce" in its slang usage specifically applies to individuals convicted or accused of sexual offenses against children, encompassing child molesters and pedophiles who engage in contact-based abuse, such as rape or molestation of prepubescent victims.^[27]^[2] This designation prioritizes empirical patterns of predatory behavior toward minors, often involving physical acts that exploit vulnerability, rather than encompassing all sexual crimes.^[28] It reflects a targeted stigma rooted in the perceived immutability of pedophilic attractions, which clinical frameworks distinguish from transient or situational misconduct.^[29] This application aligns closely with the diagnostic criteria for pedophilic disorder in the DSM-5, defined as recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, urges, or behaviors involving sexual activity with prepubescent children (generally aged 13 years or younger) over a period of at least six months, with the individual being at least 16 years old and at least five years older than the child.^[30]^[31] The disorder requires that these patterns cause marked distress, impairment, or harm to others, emphasizing chronic paraphilic orientations over isolated acts.^[32] Neurobiological research supports the view of pedophilia as a fixed sexual preference, potentially originating in early brain development, which differentiates it from offenses driven by opportunity or non-prepubescent targets.^[29] Empirical data underscores the rationale for this semantic focus: child sexual abuse inflicts severe, enduring harm, with meta-analyses of over 200 studies linking it to doubled or tripled risks of lifelong mental health issues, including depression (odds ratio approximately 2.7), anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance abuse among survivors.^[33] Organizations like the NSPCC report that such abuse affects an estimated 5-10% of children in the UK, often leading to intergenerational cycles of trauma due to intra-familial perpetration or opportunistic predation on dependents.^[34] These outcomes justify the term's exclusion of non-predatory or non-child-directed sex crimes, such as adult consensual statutory violations or image-only possession, which lack the same profile of immutable deviance and direct victim devastation.^[35] Unlike broader labels for rapists of adults, "nonce" denotes a hierarchy of disgust centered on child exploitation, excluding offenses without evidence of paraphilic fixation or prepubescent targeting, as these are categorized separately in correctional and societal contexts to reflect varying etiologies of harm.^[12] This precision avoids diluting the term's application to empirically validated predator profiles, grounded in offense data showing higher recidivism rates (up to 50% over 5-20 years) for contact child sex offenders compared to other sexual felons.^[36] The designation "nonce" carries a unique connotation of institutional vulnerability and enforced moral isolation within British prison subculture, distinguishing it from broader slurs like "pervert," which denotes general sexual deviance without implying criminal conviction or custodial risks.^[37] In contrast, "pervert" lacks the specificity of targeting convicted offenders—often those committing sexual crimes against children—who face systematic segregation and heightened violence from inmates upholding informal codes against such perpetrators. This prison-derived precision underscores "nonce" as a term rooted in empirical patterns of intra-prison conflict, rather than casual labeling of unproven or non-criminal behavior.^[8] Unlike "paedophile," which clinically or colloquially specifies an attraction to prepubescent children irrespective of legal status, "nonce" encompasses a range of convicted sexual offenders, including rapists, but emphasizes their pariah status leading to protective measures like separate exercise regimes.^[37] ^[9] The term avoids conflation with mere psychological profiles by tying usage to verifiable offenses and observed prison dynamics, where nonces are marked for isolation to mitigate assaults documented in UK correctional reports. Relative to the American slang "chomo" (short for "child molester"), "nonce" reflects a longer evolution within formalized UK segregation practices, such as acronymic cell markings for non-communal activities, whereas "chomo" functions primarily as informal opprobrium without equivalent ties to institutional protocols.^[8] This distinction highlights "nonce" as embedded in British empirical responses to recidivism risks and violence against sex offenders, countering tendencies to dilute offense-specific stigma into generic deviance narratives.^[12]

Segregation Practices in Prisons

In UK prisons, the term "nonce" functions as an informal identifier for sex offenders, particularly those convicted of offenses against children, prompting their placement in Vulnerable Prisoner Units (VPUs) under Prison Rule 45 to segregate them from the mainstream population for protection against targeted violence.^[21] These units, often designated as specific wings such as the "beast wing" or "numbers wing," house inmates at elevated risk of assault due to the stigma attached to their crimes, enabling controlled association limited to other vulnerable prisoners.^[38] Placement occurs upon reception screening, self-request, or transfer following incidents, with protocols requiring daily risk assessments to maintain separation during movements like exercise or visits.^[21] This operational approach reflects a pragmatic response to the causal dynamics of prison subcultures, where inmate-enforced retribution substitutes for perceived inadequacies in formal discipline, as evidenced by routine assaults on non-segregated sex offenders.^[21] Empirical observations from HM Prison and Probation Service-funded research indicate that VPUs yield a calmer environment with lower incidences of violence compared to integrated wings, as segregation minimizes opportunities for predatory targeting by mainstream inmates.^[21] For instance, in high-security facilities like HMP Frankland, segregation protocols extend to vulnerable categories including sex offenders, isolating them in dedicated units to avert conflicts exacerbated by overcrowding or ideological tensions.^[39] Incident data underscores the necessity: non-contact offenders (e.g., image-based convictions) face heightened bullying in mixed settings, while full separation correlates with reduced victimization rates, prioritizing verifiable threat mitigation over uniform rehabilitation models.^[21] Such practices demonstrate risk-based allocation grounded in observed patterns of inmate aggression rather than egalitarian housing ideals.^[38] Dedicated sites like HMP Whatton exemplify scaled implementation, operating as a specialist facility for over 600 sex offenders in segregated conditions that facilitate program access while curtailing external assaults.^[40] Overall, these measures sustain order by channeling the "nonce" label into administrative safeguards, averting disruptions from ad hoc inmate policing and aligning with causal realities of heightened recidivism risks and predatory hierarchies within custodial environments.^[21] The application of the term "nonce" in extralegal community settings functions as a mechanism for informal social control by designating individuals as threats warranting exclusion, thereby elevating the social costs of perceived or confirmed child sexual offending. In British vernacular, labeling someone a nonce signals profound stigma, often resulting in community-wide ostracism, loss of employment, and relocation to avoid confrontation, which parallels historical vigilantism where communities enforce norms against predation on vulnerable members. This usage extends to public confrontations by self-organized groups, such as paedophile hunters, who expose suspects online or in person, invoking the term to justify shaming and deter future attempts at grooming or abuse through heightened visibility and reputational damage.^[41]^[18] From a causal standpoint, such ostracism aligns with human behavioral adaptations favoring the protection of children, as immature offspring represent high-investment kin whose survival enhances inclusive fitness; deviations like adult attraction to minors disrupt these norms, prompting collective rejection to minimize group-level risks. Empirical parallels in public sex offender registries indicate that community notification can enhance local deterrence against offenses targeting acquaintances by facilitating informal monitoring, with one analysis finding reduced recidivism in such contexts due to improved awareness and reporting. However, broader studies reveal inconclusive or null effects on overall reoffense rates, suggesting shaming may amplify isolation without proportionally curbing underlying drives, particularly where institutional biases in academia downplay the immutability of pedophilic attractions in favor of destigmatization efforts.^[42]^[43]^[44] In contemporary extensions, online platforms amplify this control via doxxing of suspects identified by hunters, compelling evasion of high-risk areas and potentially lowering immediate proximity threats to children, though rigorous recidivism data remains sparse and confounded by selection effects in exposed cases. This practice counters sympathetic portrayals of "non-offending" individuals with such attractions, which some media and academic sources promote to encourage help-seeking but often overlook public insistence on zero-tolerance boundaries rooted in protective realism.^[45]^[46]

Cultural Representations

In Media and Entertainment

In British prison comedies like Porridge (1974–1977), the term "nonce" is employed to depict the isolation of sex offenders among inmates, blending humor with an undercurrent of visceral contempt that mirrors real prison dynamics of informal segregation.^[47] The series, set in a fictional Slade Prison, uses the slang in dialogue to illustrate social hierarchies, where such offenders face heightened risks of violence, a portrayal rooted in the show's basis in authentic 1970s correctional experiences.^[48] The 2025 Netflix drama Adolescence features the term prominently in its finale, with graffiti reading "nonse" accusing a family member of child sexual offending, heightening tension and exposing community vigilantism; this usage, while misspelled for dramatic effect, propelled explanations of the slang into global discourse, particularly confusing non-UK viewers.^[5] The series' narrative frames the accusation amid a murder investigation involving adolescents, emphasizing rapid stigmatization without due process, yet it avoids sensationalizing unsubstantiated claims.^[49] Such representations in entertainment typically characterize nonces as adult males leveraging familiarity or authority for access to victims, consistent with UK data showing over 90% of child sexual abuse convictions involve male perpetrators, most often relatives or acquaintances rather than anonymous strangers.^[34] This alignment counters media tendencies elsewhere to amplify atypical cases, like female offenders (comprising under 5% of convictions) or purely predatory strangers, which empirical patterns indicate are outliers driven by opportunity and grooming over exceptional deviance.^[50]

In Public Discourse and Politics

In parliamentary debates on criminal justice and sentencing, British politicians have occasionally employed the term "nonce" to underscore the distinct dangers posed by child sex offenders and advocate for stringent measures. During the House of Lords discussion of the Policing and Crime Bill on November 16, 2016, peers described incarcerated sex offenders as commonly known as "the nonce" within prisons, highlighting their isolation and the need for specialized protections amid concentrated offender populations.^[51] The Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal, involving an estimated 1,400 victims between 1997 and 2013, intensified political rhetoric in the 2010s, with figures like then-Home Secretary Theresa May attributing institutional failures to "institutionalised political correctness" that hindered prosecutions of predominantly Pakistani-heritage grooming gangs.^[52]^[53] This prompted cross-party calls for tougher sentencing and accountability, framing perpetrators in unvarnished terms to counter perceived leniency and prioritize victim protection over cultural sensitivities.^[54] Into the 2020s, public and political discourse has seen resistance to euphemisms such as "minor-attracted persons" (MAP), advanced by some academics and activists to destigmatize non-offending individuals with pedophilic attractions, amid revelations from grooming gang inquiries emphasizing systemic cover-ups.^[55] Proponents of retaining blunt descriptors like "nonce" argue they promote clarity on the inherent risks, citing empirical recidivism data—such as 13% sexual reoffense rates within five years for contact-only child sex offenders—that underscore the need for vigilant policy over softening language that could obscure public threats.^[56] Critics of de-stigmatization efforts, including in therapy contexts challenging terms like "nonce," contend such approaches risk minimizing the gravity of offenses, particularly given undetected reoffending potential in under-policed scenarios.^[57] Recent government initiatives, including the 2025 announcement of a national inquiry into group-based child sexual exploitation under Prime Minister Keir Starmer, reflect ongoing tensions between candid acknowledgment of offender typologies and pressures for politically calibrated framing.^[58]^[59]

Controversies and Debates

Ethical Concerns Over Stigmatization

Critics of the term "nonce" argue that its application in prison environments fosters severe social ostracism and dehumanization of convicted child sex offenders, leading to increased risks of physical violence, psychological trauma, and suicide. Reports from penal reform organizations highlight how such labeling contributes to informal segregation and heightened vulnerability, exacerbating mental health deterioration beyond the punitive intent of incarceration.^[60]^[61] Human rights analyses contend that this stigmatization violates principles of dignity and proportionality, as informal prisoner-enforced sanctions extend punishment indefinitely and hinder rehabilitation efforts, with some scholarly works applying international standards to advocate for protections against excessive isolation for sex offenders.^[62] These perspectives emphasize that post-conviction treatment should prioritize therapeutic reintegration over perpetual vilification, drawing parallels to broader ethical debates on offender rights within correctional systems. However, empirical data on child sexual abuse prevalence underscores the proportionality of such stigma, as surveys indicate that around 7% of adults aged 16-59 in England and Wales experienced sexual abuse during childhood, reflecting the widespread societal harm necessitating strong deterrents and protective measures against re-victimization risks.^[63] This victim-centered reality justifies informal social controls in high-risk settings like prisons, where first-principles prioritization of child safety outweighs abstract reformist concerns about offender isolation. Certain academic and advocacy efforts to destigmatize pedophilic attractions—framed as an unchosen orientation akin to "minor-attracted persons" (MAPs) without requiring action—have been critiqued for downplaying the inherent causal link between such impulses and child endangerment, as these views lack substantiation that non-acting attraction remains benign and instead risk eroding public safeguards by equating it to protected identities.^[64]^[65] Evidence from prevention research reveals that destigmatization rhetoric often fails to address the persistent potential for escalation, reinforcing the rationale for terms like "nonce" in signaling unmitigated threat posed by convicted individuals.^[66]

Accuracy and Misapplication Risks

The application of "nonce" to unverified suspicions risks overgeneralization and vigilante reprisals against non-offenders. In the UK, informal labeling has precipitated mob justice, exemplified by the 2013 killing of Bijan Ebrahimi in Bristol, where residents, erroneously believing him to be a paedophile, assaulted and murdered him amid chants of "paedo" during his police escort, despite lacking any conviction or formal charges.^[67] Comparable errors occurred in a 2019 Hull incident, where self-styled paedophile hunters live-streamed accusations against an innocent couple, falsely claiming they sought to meet a minor, resulting in unwarranted public exposure and distress absent judicial validation.^[68] Such misapplications extend to civil liabilities under defamation law, where unsubstantiated use of the term imputes criminality. A 2024 High Court ruling held that ex-footballer Joey Barton's social media posts branding broadcaster Jeremy Vine a "bike nonce"—slang evoking pedophilic intent—constituted libel, obliging Barton to pay Vine £75,000 in damages for reputational injury without evidentiary basis.^[69] This underscores tensions between colloquial free speech and actionable harm, with courts prioritizing proven facts over speculative nomenclature to avert baseless stigma. Mitigation entails restricting the term to post-conviction contexts, mirroring the UK's Sex Offenders Register, which mandates inclusion solely for those adjudicated guilty of qualifying sexual offenses under due process, thereby curtailing the false positives plaguing ad hoc public vigilantism.^[70] While narratives of widespread witch-hunts persist, registry data reflect targeted efficacy in monitoring verified recidivists—evidenced by 10-year sexual reconviction rates around 18% among registrants—privileging empirical child protection over unvetted generalizations that empirically heighten innocent bystander risks.^[71] In UK prisons, inmates convicted of sexual offenses against children experience elevated rates of victimization compared to other prisoner categories, with data indicating that sexual offenders comprise a disproportionate share of assault victims relative to their representation in the general prison population of approximately 18%. This pattern of targeted violence, including physical assaults motivated by inmate disapproval of child sex offenses, empirically justifies segregation protocols to mitigate harm, as unprotected integration correlates with higher incidence of assaults. Victimization surveys and prison reports highlight that such offenders face risks several times greater than non-sex offenders, driven by informal codes enforcing retribution against "nonces."^[22]^[72] Meta-analyses of recidivism among child sex offenders reveal persistent reoffense risks, with detected sexual recidivism rates averaging 13.4% across studies involving over 23,000 offenders followed for 5-6 years, though child molesters specifically show rates around 12-15% in subgroup analyses. In the UK, sexual reconviction rates for sex offenders stand at 5.8% within 2 years and 17.5% beyond 6 years, figures that underestimate true prevalence due to unreported or undetected offenses, as corroborated by victim surveys and self-reports suggesting multipliers of 2-3 times higher actual rates. These outcomes challenge narratives of low recidivism or easy rehabilitation, emphasizing the need for indefinite monitoring given static factors like offense type and deviant sexual interests that predict relapse.^[73]^[74]^[75] Child sexual abuse inflicts causal neurodevelopmental damage, with empirical neuroimaging evidence demonstrating structural and functional brain alterations, including reduced hippocampal volume and amygdala hyperactivity, linked to impaired emotion regulation and heightened stress responses persisting into adulthood. Longitudinal studies confirm these changes arise directly from abuse trauma, independent of confounding factors like family environment, refuting minimization of harm by establishing dose-response relationships where severity and duration of abuse correlate with greater neurological deficits and psychopathology. Such evidence underscores the irreversible costs to victims, reinforcing the imperative for stringent offender containment over optimistic redemption models.^[76]^[77]^[33]

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nonce in British English 2. (nɒns IPA Pronunciation Guide ). noun. derogatory, prison slang. a rapist or child molester; a sexual offender. Collins English ...
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Nov 30, 2019 · The "nonce" in "nonce word" means "used on one occasion". It is related to "one", from Middle English nonse, nones, a rebracketing of Middle English to þan ...What "nonces" mean? I can't tanslate this to my language. - RedditFirst time I've ever heard that term : r/GetNoted - RedditMore results from www.reddit.com
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When I was a kid my dad taught me that "nonce" means "idiot". I ...
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these published figures in evaluating the impact of sex offender registration. There is no precise estimate for the number of sex offenders in the. population ...
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