Interesting thing about the term "nonce"... that etymology is not entirely accurate. It's not quite a false etymology, but it is a sort of a "backronym" kinda t

Interesting thing about the term "nonce"... that etymology is not entirely accurate. It's not quite a false etymology, but it is a sort of a "backronym" kinda thing. In linguistics, the term "nonce word" describes a term invented for a specific occasion/purpose where you have a need for a term that isn't met by existing language: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonce_word https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonce_word So the cryptographic term "nonce" was a reference to the existing linguistic terminology, which IIRC goes back pretty far, maybe into Old English. I don't know exactly when/how the "number once" thing came about, but it's definitely become a valid definition in its own right... And a very useful mnemonic, as you pointed out.