Know your calls
- 16 Feb 08
- Written by
Here’s the next Bingo Hideout update for all you internet bingo newbies out there. Whether you like to play 75, 80 or 90 ball bingo it’s good to know the rhymes that will win you the jackpot. Some of these phrases have proved so popular that they have passed on into daily chat through the popularity of the game through the years.
Most people know what two little ducks are and phrases like garden gate in place of the number are also popular. Sometimes though – especially in a live bingo game – it can feel like you just don’t know what the caller is saying. That’s why we’re giving you the chance to brush up on the most common calls in live and online bingo in order to keep in the game and stay Top of the Shop.
Here, as a refresher, are numbers one to thirty.
1 First on the Board, Kelly’s Eye
2 One Little Duck
3 Cup of Tea, I’m Free
4 Knock at the Door
5 Man Alive
6 Tom’s Tricks
7 Lucky 7
8 Garden Gate, One Fat Lady.
9 Doctor’s Orders
10 Number Ten, Tony’s Den
11 Legs Eleven
12 One Dozen, Monkey’s Cousin
13 Unlucky for some
14 Valentine’s Day
15 Young and Keen
16 Never Been Kissed
17 Dancing Queen
18 Coming of Age
19 Good-bye Teens
20 One Score
21 Royal Salute
22 Two little Ducks, Quack Quack
23 Thee and Me, A Duck and A Flea
24 Did You Score? Do You Want Some More?
25 Duck and Dive
26 Bed and Breakfast, Pick and Mix, Half a Crown
27 Gateway to Heaven
28 In a State, Duck and its Mate
29 Rise and Shine
30 Speed limit, Dirty Gertie
The rhyming slang used in bingo calling has a lot of its origins in the Second World War. Bingo was one of the cheapest and most popular forms of entertainment at that time and was useful for bringing fractured communities together.
There are a few examples of the WW2 legacy in evidence here in the top third of the complete list. Number 26, Bed and Breakfast for example came about as the average cost of a bed and breakfast overnight at that time was 2 shillings 6 pence or Half a crown (equivalent to 2 shillings 6 pence).
Number 10, Tony’s Den however, is clearly a newer addition to the slang dictionary. This demonstrates how ‘bingo lingo’ changes with the times as well as reflects the past.
Slang by its nature is changeable and is dictated by region as well as history. So, although it seems impossible to include all of the variations on each number, I hope this article has raised a smile at least.