Make Your Point > Archived Issues > NONCE
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pronounce
NONCE:
Say it "NONTS."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
If you love words, like me, I bet you know about 40,100 of them in English. (You can get an estimate here.) And if none of those 40,100 words is exactly the word you need, you can make up your own. Man, I love that.
To invent the words you need on the spur of the moment, like "sandwich-worthy," "floofachonkers," and "Pinteresting," is to invent nonce words.
"English bristles with nonce words," says Jack Lynch, the author of The Lexicographer's Dilemma. He cites the writer Horace Walpole as a notorious creator of nonce words. While most of Walpole's words appeared and promptly disappeared--"betweenity," "nincompoophood"--some stuck around for good, like "ser_____ity," meaning "good luck that comes as a surprise."
Besides Walpole, can you think of another writer known for churning out nonce words like it was his job? Yup: Lewis Carroll, the creator of oodles of them, including gyre, galumph, chortle, and tulgey--each of which made their way into English dictionaries.
Even if none of your own nonce words do the same, I hope you'll keep on creating them. They're joys, in and of themselves.
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
The word "nonce" comes from an Old English phrase, to þam anum, which means "for the once" or "for that one thing." (That's why it looks like "once.")
"Nonce" has been around for centuries and has many meanings.
The most common meaning today is "the time being." Something done "for the nonce" is done just for the present moment, or done just in the situation that's happening right now.
And because we often talk about words that get invented on the spur of the moment, for some specific, immediate use, we also use "nonce" as an adjective to describe things (especially words) that get invented and used on the spot.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech: It's both a noun ("we accept, at least for the nonce") and an adjective ("it was just a nonce phrase," "she has a habit of creating nonce words").
Other forms: You'll find "nonce" inside lots of hyphenations, like "nonce-word," "nonce-phrase," "nonce-meaning," and "nonce-usage."
how to use it:
Do whatever. Language is made-up.
Just kidding! Or am I? Anyway, to strike a formal, old-fashioned tone, talk about people doing something "for the nonce," or about things being true, being used, or being a certain way "for the nonce."
And to talk either formally or informally about made-up words and phrases, refer to them as "nonce words," "nonce phrases," "nonce inventions," and so on. If you prefer, use a hyphen: "I love Taylor's nonce-creations, like 'a mac and chee.'"
Finally, you can use "nonce" as a fun little substitute for adjectives like "makeshift," "ad hoc," and "improvisatory." In one quick syllable, it expresses the entire idea that something handy was grabbed and repurposed.
examples:
"The works of Shakespeare, whose written vocabulary consists of 17,245 words, includes hundreds of authorisms. Some of them, true nonce words, never went further than their appearance in his plays. But others, like 'bump,' 'hurry,' 'critical' and 'bedazzled,' are essential parts of our standard vocabulary today."
— Paul Dickson, TIME, 30 April 2014
"No special type of piece is required and all the pieces are shaped alike. Any of the kinds of nonce-pieces given in Chapter 1 may be used... Perhaps beans, berries, or seeds are most often used by inland peoples."
— Harold James Ruthven Murray, A History of Board-Games Other than Chess, 1952
has this page helped you understand "nonce"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "nonce" without saying "the present moment" or "an occasionalism."
try it out:
Most nonce words get created and discarded in almost the same breath. But why do you think some nonce words end up sticking around, lodging themselves in our shared vocabulary? Talk about it, bringing up some examples, if you can.
Need some help thinking of examples? Flick through the 500 new words (coined in 1950 or later) that make up my little card game called New Word Order. They start on page 5. Do you see some of these that probably started out as nonce words? Which ones? Why do you think they stuck around, while others, like Walpole's "betweenity," didn't?
before you review, play:
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
Our game last month was "Rhyming Puzzles!"
I gave you a description of something, and you named it in a rhyming phrase.
From the previous issue:
You adore those drawing toys from the 1960's, the ones in a little red frame, with the two knobs for drawing squiggles and lines across the gray screen. You love these so much that you've become a collector--and you'll do anything to get your hands on them. Anything.
You're a _____-__-_____-___ ____ _ ______ ___.
(Three terms. The first term is a word with four syllables and three hyphens. The second term has three words, all one syllable each. And the last term is a word with one syllable. Clue: use this word.)
Answer: catch-as-catch-can Etch A Sketch fan.
Our new game is "Subject Line Crosswords!"
This month, we'll revisit some of the email subject lines from 2019 issues, using them as a tool for recall.
In each issue, see if you can complete the mini-crossword with words we've studied before. If you need extra clues, look below the puzzle to view definitions and parts of speech. And I'll share the answers in the following issue. Enjoy!
Try this today:
Extra clues:
ACROSS
1. noun meaning "a collected group of varied types of stuff"
3. adjective meaning "involving pointless, endless hard work"
DOWN
2. adjective meaning "stuffy, showy, scholarly, and overly fancy"
review this word:
1. A near opposite of FOR THE NONCE is
A. CREATIVELY.
B. PERMANENTLY.
C. PURPOSEFULLY.
2. Describing the destruction of 50% of things, and rejecting as imprecise the word "decimation," Chad settles on a nonce word, "_____."
A. butchery
B. Thanositize
C. annihilation
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
If you love words, like me, I bet you know about 40,100 of them in English. (You can get an estimate here.) And if none of those 40,100 words is exactly the word you need, you can make up your own. Man, I love that. The word "nonce" comes from an Old English phrase, to þam anum, which means "for the once" or "for that one thing." (That's why it looks like "once.")
Part of speech: It's both a noun ("we accept, at least for the nonce") and an adjective ("it was just a nonce phrase," "she has a habit of creating nonce words").
Do whatever. Language is made-up.
"The works of Shakespeare, whose written vocabulary consists of 17,245 words, includes hundreds of authorisms. Some of them, true nonce words, never went further than their appearance in his plays. But others, like 'bump,' 'hurry,' 'critical' and 'bedazzled,' are essential parts of our standard vocabulary today."
Explain the meaning of "nonce" without saying "the present moment" or "an occasionalism."
Most nonce words get created and discarded in almost the same breath. But why do you think some nonce words end up sticking around, lodging themselves in our shared vocabulary? Talk about it, bringing up some examples, if you can.
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
Extra clues:
1. A near opposite of FOR THE NONCE is
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