Talk:Nonce

Spelling
Nonce is not the correct spelling for the Sex Offender definition. It is only ignorant and stupid people who have heard the word but not seen it written down who have led to its wide spread incorrect spelling among the less intelligent. The correct spelling of the word in the context of a sex offender is:

NAUNCE

Glad we cleared that up. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.21.4.155 (talk) 22:51, November 1, 2007 (UTC)


 * That is not borne out by common pronunciation, according to which a word which is spelt naunce would be pronounced as R.P. nornce. But instead it has the short, open o concomitant with nonce spelling. Nuttyskin (talk) 03:02, 28 March 2019 (UTC)
 * Also not borne out by a google search. Naunce seems to be uncommon and the definition is 'offensive terms for an openly homosexual man' which is the not the same meaning. Talltim (talk) 12:43, 9 June 2021 (UTC)

Vandalism
this disambiguation page for nonce keeps being vandalised. Should it be locked? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Soulmanscience87 (talk • contribs) 16:59, February 26, 2018 (UTC)


 * I'd imagine the "vandalism" comes from nonce being common prison slang for paedophile. Its popularity spread largely in response to its use in TV programme The Bill. Nuttyskin (talk) 02:57, 28 March 2019 (UTC)

We have a problem
In British English, the overwhelmingly predominant meaning of the word "nonce" is as a slang term for a paedophile. Including that meaning in the main text of this article would, on the face of it, seem to be an obvious necessity, but its inclusion is routinely reverted on the grounds that that is not what a disambiguation page is for. As though that matters - we are here to help readers, not be restricted by unnecessarily strict rules. There is a box linking to the Wiktionary definition, but it seems to me to be extremely unlikely that most readers looking for a definition of the word would click on that, relatively obscure and un-highlighted, box. How is this best resolved? My view is that the pedantry of those editors who insist on excluding the dictionary definition from the main text simply be ignored, and the Brit Eng definition simply be added to the text. Ghmyrtle (talk) 08:07, 20 February 2021 (UTC)
 * Agreed! While it might not be precisely according to e.g. WP:DICDEF, I completely agree that this page would be more informative if the definition was added, rather than just the Wiktionary box. Knuthove (talk) 10:48, 20 February 2021 (UTC)
 * Here's the rub, as I see it: if this usage is "overwhelmingly predominant", then why can't it easily be included on a relevant article? After that we'd just link to the actual content and it's done.&#32;-- Fyrael (talk) 15:42, 9 June 2021 (UTC)
 * If we had a section in the [pedophilia] article with slang words for paedophiles, then nonce would appear there with others. The point here is that many British English speakers interpret nonce as usually meaning paedophile rather than something helping cryptography or architecture, but that does not mean they would usually use nonce instead of paedophile. So a disambiguation pointer is appropriate. 2A00:23C7:7B18:9600:E0B6:C6E3:2E05:DDC9 (talk)
 * The page Pedo has a link to Pedophile, which seems basically an identical bending of the rules. Porphyro (talk) 10:14, 3 August 2021 (UTC)
 * I agree that the British definition needs to be included here, with no strong preference on how. ProcrastinatingReader (talk) 11:04, 3 August 2021 (UTC)
 * I suggest something along the lines of:
 * "Nonce", a chiefly British term for "paedophile"
 * TJRC (talk) 15:21, 4 August 2021 (UTC)
 * That seems like a good solution. We have plenty of precedent such as Large for mentioning a dicdef meaning where such use is common compared to the listed articles. Certes (talk) 15:54, 4 August 2021 (UTC)
 * It would definitely be an improvement on saying nowt, but should say "...chiefly British slang term...". Ghmyrtle (talk) 17:41, 4 August 2021 (UTC)
 * I thought of using some variant with "slang" but avoided it, because the target page Glossary of British terms not widely used in the United States is not limited to slang terms. But if the consensus is to use that, I wouldn't object. TJRC (talk) 19:55, 4 August 2021 (UTC)
 * How about: ".... a slang term chiefly used in Britain for "paedophile"."  Ghmyrtle (talk) 08:33, 9 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Best of both worlds. We could even create an anchor directly to the word. Certes (talk) 12:04, 9 August 2021 (UTC)
 * I agree that's a good solution. Shhhnotsoloud (talk) 08:09, 9 August 2021 (UTC)