Know your calls

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.