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Is the term that old? I was told it literally meant N(umber)once.
by rocqua 8y ago
Is the term that old? I was told it literally meant N(umber)once.
- dtf 8y agoYes, the construction "for the nonce" goes back to the Middle Ages. The concept of a "nonce word" goes back to 1884, according to this article. https://www.dailywritingtips.com/nonce-words-for-the-nonce-and-nonce/ https://www.dailywritingtips.com/nonce-words-for-the-nonce-a...
- OJFord 8y agoI'm not necessarily arguing there's shared etymology, but consider 'for the nonce' - it's not merely a made up word used exclusively in cryptography.