nul points

English

Alternative forms

nil points

Etymology

French, literally "nil points" in the style of score announcements at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nʊl ˈpwɑː(n)/, /nʌl-/

Noun

nul points (uncountable)

(humorous) No points (as a score); zero, nothing.
- 1991, Eurovision Song Contest, BBC commentary by Terry Wogan:
  Danish jury representative: Germany, six points.
  
  Toto Cutugno: Germany, six points!
  
  Terry Wogan: That's the first six points for Germany! Now only Austria is left with the dreaded nul points.
- 2010, Sue Limb, Flirting for England‎^[1], page 56:
  A small blonde girl appeared, wrapped in a terrible pale pink padded jacket. "Nul points for the clothes," said Jess. "She looks like a prawn."

Usage notes

As the Eurovision contest uses a Borda count voting system, "nul points" means that no voter (in this case, country) has ranked the entry at all. The term "nul points" is not used in the official Eurovision scoring announcements, as only the entries that are awarded points are announced.