It is the nonce for music, and in every carriage the noise of flutes are still sounding as they enter the palace gates ... What Paradise?! What abode of Gods? They wondered could be more enchanting than the snow-covered gardens of Princess Rosalyn's gardens ... through which we are now being drawn?

Sister Carrie

Yeah, we kinda knew that, Bryn.

That's sad. It's a word I use occasionally in its original sense, also in the sense of " nonsense ", as in " nonce word ".

"A nonce word is one coined 'for the nonce'--made up for one occasion and not likely to be encountered again. When Lewis Carroll coined it, frabjous was a nonce word. Neologisms are much the same thing, brand-new words or brand-new meanings for existing words, coined for a specific purpose. Analogy, especially with familiar words or parts of speech, often guides the coiner, and occasionally these words will enter the standard vocabulary."
(Kenneth G. Wilson, The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Columbia University Press, 1993)

I'm glad dispossessed made that point to foreigners who might use this word in a conversation, This is a strange choice for word of the day - you'll only come across 'nonce' in Shakespeare & the like.

Nonce is a term for a child molester? I've NEVER heard the word in that context - that must be British slang. In Aussie slang: a 'nonce' is an idiot; a child molester is a 'kiddie fiddler' or a 'rock spider'.

I'm going to try to call someone a 'nonce' today, & see what kind of reaction I get.

This is very interesting, all of the different interoperation's of how this word is and has been used. What prompted it to be offered as the "word of the day"? Yes, there is the old English definition which Shakespeare would have used, but having spent more then a few years in law enforcement, arresting predators, I have never come across this term being used in a derogatory context, regarding sex offenders. But while studying Shakespeare in undergraduate school, I do remember hearing it used, but then that was over 50 years ago. Could it be that someone working at this site is attempting to "pull-your-chain", Bryn Kinnaird???

Actually, personally I wouldn't think of it as sex offender, but as a derogatory term for a gay man, from the point of view of the homophobe that all such men were a 'danger' to young boys or somehow dangerous to 'real men'. (Like, how!?)
But it is not (happily) a common word -so my personal interpretation is not exactly tested by experience. Rather dated, I would have thought? But certainly not as dated as the 'now' nonce in the OP.

I know tfd does not set itself up to be a learner's site, but that is one part of the forum that now exists. And presumably people also use word of the day just to broaden their vocabulary. I think they should signal a bit more if a word is archaic. Keep them as word of the day (after all, broadening vocabulary occurs at every level) but signal when it is archaic or at least not in common usage.

It is just a bit unfortunate that that perfectly good word got hijacked by a derogatory meaning.

I am often amused at how a word will mutate. Words I used as a child now have totally different meanings. As a child "gay" meant something or someone was joyful, but today it has come to mean something that has nothing related to "joy" in that sense.

I also get a kick out of differences in how we use the English language depending on location. I personally didn't know that in the UK "nounce" had bad connotation attached to it. To be honest I've never used the word. I still remember when I first came to China and they taught the children here to say "rubber" to mean "eraser". When a 6 year old first told me that he'd lost his "rubber" I had to take a moment to figure out what he could possibly mean, then I realized the poor child had lost his pencil eraser. I just love UK English!

Melissa:

I wince now every year when I sing "Deck the Halls" and I get to the verse that says; "...don we now our gay apparel..." The images I have (I tend to be very visual) make me want to laugh.

OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! This is terrible, I sing this line at the top of my lungs & do the wrist movement every time!



At Christmas in Australia, we all wear thongs because it's hot as buggery. Of course, you call them flip-flops.

I was going to call someone a 'nonce' today to see what reaction I got, but I forgot.

You don't want to get the wrong thong! I know when I get out of the pool if I slip on someone else's, & try to walk, but go all skewwhiff before I realise - Oh I hate that! You're so right excaelis, you've don't want to get the wrong thong!