What it means
A daft, affectionate British way to say head. It takes the starch right out of the moment, whether you're told not to bang your bonce on a shelf or to use your bonce and think. Feels cheeky, old-school, and warmly mocking rather than rude.
Usage examples
"Mind your bonce on that shelf, the last person who forgot ended up with a proper egg on their head."
"Mind your bonce on that low shelf in the cellar of the King's Arms in Bermondsey, the last regular who forgot ended up with a proper egg on his head for the rest of the Tuesday night quiz, the landlord still tells the story to every new customer who takes the corner seat by the dartboard."
"My uncle in Leeds scratched his bonce for a solid five minutes at the Sunday crossword in the kitchen of the terraced house on the corner of the cobbled street, finally cracked four down with a triumphant shout that woke the spaniel under the table, and went off to make a fresh pot of tea to celebrate the breakthrough."
"I smacked my bonce getting on the top deck and the whole bus winced for me."
"Use your bonce, mate, the keys are exactly where you dumped them five minutes ago."
Where it comes from
Recorded in British slang from the late 19th century, bonce means head and has long carried a jokey, music-hall kind of flavour. The exact root isn't fully settled in a way worth stating as fact, but the word itself is solidly established in English slang dictionaries and has stayed alive in everyday British speech ever since.
Other ways to say it
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