Chaos Reading discussion

When I was reading Blackout on the weekend, I came across the phrase, "we're cut off for the nonce." I'd never heard that term before, mostly because the only definition for the word "nonce" I knew was "paedophile". I guess they use the word differently in the US!

Anyone else encountered interesting translation issues?

Ruby wrote: "...mostly because the only definition for the word "nonce" I knew was "paedophile". I guess they use the word differently in the US!..."

Ha! Indeed it is different, although the phrase as used in "Blackout" is a bit archaic. I'm guessing the hip-hop group "The Nonce" didn't take off in Australia. Or maybe they were popular among an unintended fan base...

Whitney wrote: "Ha! Indeed it is different, although the phrase as used in "Blackout" is a bit archaic. I'm guessing the hip-hop group "The Nonce" didn't take off in Australia. Or maybe they were popular among an unintended fan base... "

Hehe. I'm not actually sure we use the word "nonce" here at all, but I've seen it a lot in UK shows/movies/books. Then again, Wikipedia says it means "paedophile" in Australia too, and that's always right. :)

I don't think I've ever heard the word "nonce" in ANY context. Interesting to know that it means "pedophile" (American spelling!)

Reminds me of this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38kY38...

Leo wrote: "Reminds me of this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38kY38..."

Oh...that IS unfortunate!

:gag:

"Nonce" doesn't seem remotely odd to me for "present", and I wasn't at all aware of the "pædophile" meaning, but it's one of those archaic words that's common enough in writing but nobody would ever use in speech - unless perhaps they teach literature at an English university.

I did a quick check of YouTube to see if I could find it used in some tv show dialogue - here's an example from Life On Mars: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHP3Ji...
(Gene Hunt "kicking in a nonce")

I was surprised how many home-made episodes of "To Catch A Nonce" are on there. Hmm.

Jim wrote: "Example from Shakespeare: "And that he calls for drink, I'll have prepared for him / A chalice for the nonce" (Hamlet, 4.7.174.175). "

*snigger*

Whitney wrote: "I'm guessing the hip-hop group "The Nonce" didn't take off in Australia."

Whoa!! I love the Nonce, and that was the first thing that came to mind when I read the first post. Who Falls Apart? is one of my favorite songs from that era, and I still have the 12" single (along with a few other singles of theirs).

Nicholas wrote: "Whitney wrote: "I'm guessing the hip-hop group "The Nonce" didn't take off in Australia."

Whoa!! I love the Nonce, and that was the first thing that came to mind when I read the first post. Who Fa..."

I used to work in a prison (in the UK) where "nonce" is certainly used to denote paedophile (and by the inmates in a wider context for any form of sexual offender, and sometimes just as a homophobic insult to a gay offender). It's also widely known outside of the prison system - appears on many of our police/prison dramas, of course. Probably explains why "The Nonce" never made it big in the UK!

However, archaically "for the nonce" to mean "just for the moment" or "just this once".

Elise wrote: "Probably explains why "The Nonce" never made it big in the UK! "

Well, to be fair, they never really "made it big" in the US either. They were among the most criminally slept-on groups from the early-mid 90s, of which there were many.

I'd never heard the UK/Australia usage of the word before, though.

Elise wrote: "I used to work in a prison (in the UK) where "nonce" is certainly used to denote paedophile (and by the inmates in a wider context for any form of sexual offender, and sometimes just as a homophobic insult to a gay offender). It's also widely known outside of the prison system - appears on many of our police/prison dramas, of course..."

That's definitely the context I've heard it in - but only on UK media. It's not used in Australia to my knowledge.

This isn't a translation issue, but I'm sniggering so I thought I'd share. Among a certain group of friends, "penie" is the pet word for "penis". It makes this book title seem a little wrong:
Peanie: Footsteps of the Father