# What does "Nonce" Mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 25, 2026, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nonce-mean/1029543 "2026-04-25T08:41:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nonce-mean/1029543/21 "2026-04-25T18:38:53Z")
I always use it quoting Pseudolus: “I’ll be back in a nonce. At most two nonces,” ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nonce-mean/1029543/22 "2026-04-25T18:41:07Z")
I know “nonce” in the US sense. I was alerted to the UK sense in Spelling Bee discussions. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nonce-mean/1029543/23 "2026-04-25T19:06:43Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I always use it quoting Pseudolus: “I’ll be back in a nonce. At most two nonces,” Ooh, good one! ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nonce-mean/1029543/24 "2026-04-25T19:33:39Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > it’s supposed to be an abbreviation of “not even once”, I heard the derivation that its short for “nonsense crime” and it came from British prisons and originally meant any crime that didn’t make sense, e.g. random violence, crimes against children, etc. as opposed to regular crimes like burglary, assault, etc. that do “make sense”. But came to mean specifically pedophiles. No idea if that’s the actual origin, I have no cites. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nonce-mean/1029543/25 "2026-04-25T19:48:26Z")
Wow, as an American I had no idea there were any slang meanings – I know it only as a very, very old-fashioned word for “occasion,” mostly used in the phrase “for the nonce,” or sometimes “nonce word.” My other association with the word is that medieval and early modern writers tend to use “for the nonce” as generic filler, the same way we might use “you know.” Thus, Chaucer tells us that the Miller “was a stout carl [a strong churl] for the nones,” even though one assumes that he was a big, strong guy on all other occasions as well, and didn’t just bulk up to go on pilgrimage 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nonce-mean/1029543/26 "2026-04-25T19:56:49Z")
The OED does list its “sexual deviant” meaning, and says this about the etymology: > Origin unknown. Perhaps related to _nance_ n., or perhaps compare English regional _nonse_ good-for-nothing fellow, recorded in Eng. Dial. Dict. Suppl. from Lincolnshire. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nonce-mean/1029543/27 "2026-04-26T01:38:09Z")
Same here. > [@Spoons](#): > > Here’s a totally different take from those given above: it means “now.” As in, “I know you need a decision, but I’m going to sit on it for the nonce, and will let you know later today.” > > I’ve used that before and everybody understands it. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nonce-mean/1029543/28 "2026-04-26T15:44:18Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I always use it quoting Pseudolus: “I’ll be back in a nonce. At most two nonces,” That was my first exposure to “nonce” and I used to use it all the time. I later heard it in the context of “nonce word” and never saw any connection. I’d never heard it used as a synonym for pedophile, although I knew “nancy” or “nancy-boy” as an insulting term for homosexual, without any specific implication of pedophilia. ---
**Author:** ![doomtastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@doomtastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doomtastic)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nonce-mean/1029543/29 "2026-04-26T15:57:40Z")
Huh, learned something today. I’ve only ever seen it in professional contexts of the cryptographic sense. I assumed it was some sort of portmanteau (if that’s the correct term in this instance) of “N” and “once”. Where N is commonly used to substitute for an arbitrary number in computer science (e.g. this loop needs to run N+1 times where N is the size of the list we pass to it), and once meaning, well, a single time. So, N + once = Nonce. An arbitrary number we are only using a single time 🤷 edit: and reading that Wikipedia page on cryptographic nonces - it would appear I’m not the only one who made this false assumption ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nonce-mean/1029543/30 "2026-04-26T16:11:32Z")
I’m an American who’s watched a lot of British and Australian media. I only knew it as either a simpleton or what prisons over here would call a chomo. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nonce-mean/1029543/31 "2026-04-26T16:21:34Z")
[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Gtf83Qrp6Tc/hqdefault.jpg "I'm getting the word...") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtf83Qrp6Tc) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nonce-mean/1029543/32 "2026-04-26T17:39:54Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > what prisons over here would call a chomo. A word I’ve never heard. Urban Dictionary says it’s a formation from “Child Molester”. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nonce-mean/1029543/33 "2026-04-26T17:43:13Z")
Just to be clear, the modern word meaning “sexual predator” and the older word meaning “for the current time” and similar senses are completely unrelated words which just happen to have the same form, like “bow” (bend forward) and “bow” (front of a ship). The older word “nonce”, according to the OED, does not derive directly from the word “once” but derives from an Old English word “anes” which means “at one time”, used in opposition to “twice”. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nonce-mean/1029543/34 "2026-04-26T17:50:18Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > A word I’ve never heard. Urban Dictionary says it’s a formation from “Child Molester”. We clearly run in different crowds. More than a few of my friends and acquaintances over the years have been to prison, for drugs not the other thing. I’ve heard their stories. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nonce-mean/1029543/35 "2026-04-26T17:53:19Z")
Yeah, no ex-cons in my crowd. Yours are probably more fun. I also don’t watch crime drama. We just had somebody casually toss out “DB” in a post about the Appalachian Trail and Appalachian dialect. They knew they meant “dead body” because they’re steeped in that television genre. Not I, and not the person who asked them for clarification. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nonce-mean/1029543/36 "2026-04-27T04:25:28Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I grew up in Australia in the 60s as well. The only time I ever heard the word used back then was by my British parents who used the phrase “for the nonce” meaning for the time being. Same but I also heard the cryptographic usage also. Never heard of the pedophile meaning before this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nonce-mean/1029543/37 "2026-04-27T09:53:04Z")
Specifically, child molester, but can be used for sex offenders more generally. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nonce-mean/1029543/38 "2026-04-27T10:25:45Z")
“Nonce” means “once” in that context (like nuncle = uncle…). I am not sure if that is supposed to be the same word as for stupid idiots and child molesters or just a homograph. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nonce-mean/1029543/39 "2026-04-27T18:58:03Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > A word I’ve never heard. Urban Dictionary says it’s a formation from “Child Molester”. Yep, this was the standard word used for pedophiles/child molesters among my cohort during the late 90s/early 00s. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nonce-mean/1029543/40 "2026-04-27T19:20:22Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > > [@Spoons](#): > > > > Here’s a totally different take from those given above: it means “now.” As in, “I know you need a decision, but I’m going to sit on it for the nonce, and will let you know later today.” > > > > I’ve used that before and everybody understands it. > > That’s what i was going to answer. I think that’s the primary meaning in the US. That’s the only way I’ve ever heard it used, and is what I immediately thought of when I read the thread title. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nonce-mean/1029543.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nonce-mean/1029543.md?page=3)