The 90 Ball Bingo Lingo

Bingo is a community game which fosters interaction among bingo players from all walks of life. So, as the bingo game evolved, so did a funny set of bingo nicknames to make the game more lighter and fun. These bingo nicknames are very much UK feature of the game and are used where the motive is having more on fun and not making money. Callers in the traditional bingo halls of UK would use these nicknames when announcing numbers, which later became popular as bingo lingo. However, with the introduction of random number generator followed by the advent of internet, these bingo nicknames became obsolete and are used less frequently these days. But at on time, bingo nicknames were widely used and several regional variations of bingo calls could be seen all over the UK.

Each bingo number, from 1 to 90 has a bingo nickname assigned to it. While some bingo lingo is very straightforward, for example 'four and nine': 49, others are a little vague like 'pick and mix': 26. Most bingo nicknames are rhyming slangs, for instance, Tom's Tricks rhymes with 6. Those bingo lingo which don't rhyme with the number have a logical reason for being called so. Then there are bingo nicknames which have a biblical background, such as 23: 'the lord is my shepherd' referring to Psalm 23 in Bible.

Other bingo nicknames have both rhyming and logical connotation. For example, number 8 which is called as both 'garden gate' (rhyming) and 'one fat lady' (because if the shape of 8 which resembles the shape of a fat lady). While some bingo callers prefer the logical nicknames, for exapmle number 1 is called 'kelly's eye', named after the one eyed Australian gangster Ned Kelly, for they are uncommon and easy to memorize. Rhyming bingo lingo, on the other hand, can be difficult to learn. Say for instance, 'duck and dive' for 25 easily rhymes with 35. Our comprehensive list of bingo lingo entails some of the most commonly used bingo lingo across the bingo halls in UK:

1. 1 Kelly's Eye / At the Beginning
2. 2 One Little Duck / Me and You – So called because the number 2 is a swan-like shape.
3. 3 Cup of tea / You and Me
4. 4 Knock at the Door
5. 5 Man Alive
6. 6 Tom's tricks / Tom Nix
7. 7 Lucky Seven / God's in Heaven
8. 8 One Fat Lady / Golden Gate/ Garden Gate
9. 9 Doctor's Orders – In World War 2 the British pill “Number 9” was a laxative.
10. 10 Tony's Den. Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street (changes with each Prime Minister).
11. 11 Legs Eleven
12. 12 One Dozen
13. 13 Unlucky for Some / Devil's Number/ Baker’s Dozen
14. 14 Valentines Day
15. 15 Young and keen / Rugby Team
16. 16 Sweet Sixteen / She's Lovely
17. 17 Dancing Queen / Often been Kissed
18. 18 Coming of Age
19. 19 Goodbye Teens
20. 20 One Score/ Blind 20
21. 21 Key of the Door
22. 22 Two Little Ducks / All the Twos
23. 23 Thee and Me / The Lord is my Shepherd
24. 24 Two dozen
25. 25 Duck and Dive
26. 26 Pick and Mix/Half a crown/Bed and Breakfast – The cost of a night’s lodgings and breakfast was traditionally 2 shillings and sixpence, or two and six.
27. 27 Gateway to Heaven / Little duck with a Crutch
28. 28 Over Weight / In a State
29. 29 You're doing Fine/ Rise and Shine
30. 30 Burlington Bertie / Dirty Gertie / Speed Limit / Flirty thirty / Blind 30
31. 31 Get up and Run
32. 32 Buckle my Shoe
33. 33 Dirty Knees / All the Threes / All the Feathers / Two Little Fleas / Sherwood Forest
34. 34 Ask for More
35. 35 Jump and Jive
36. 36 Three Dozen
37. 37 A Flea in Heaven / More than Eleven
38. 38 Christmas Cake
39. 39 Those Famous Steps / Steps
40. 40 Naughty Forty
41. 41 Time for Fun
42. 42 Winnie the Pooh/ Famous Street in Manhatten
43. 43 Down on your Knees
44. 44 Droopy Drawers / All the Fours
45. 45 Halfway There / Halfway House
46. 46 Up to Tricks
47. 47 Four and Seven
48. 48 Four Dozen
49. 49 P.C. / Copper / Nick Nick
50. 50 Half a Century/ Bulls Eye / Blind 50
51. 51 Tweak of the Thumb
52. 52 Danny La Rue/ Weeks in a Year
53. 53 Stuck in the Tree
54. 54 Clean the Floor
55. 55 Snakes Alive / All the Fives
56. 56 Was she worth it?
57. 57 Heinz Varieties
58. 58 Make them Wait / Choo choo Thomas
59. 59 Brighton Line – The London to Brighton bus service was the number 59.
60. 60 Five Dozen /Three Score / Blind 60
61. 61 Bakers Bun
62. 62 Turn on the Screw / Tickety Boo
63. 63 Tickle Me
64. 64 Red Raw / The Beatles’ Number
65. 65 Old Age Pension – The age of retirement (when a pension can be claimed) for men in the UK.
66. 66 Clickety Click / All the Sixes
67. 67 Made in Heaven / Argumentative Number
68. 68 Saving Grace
69. 69 Either Way Up /The Same Both Ways / Your Place or Mine / Meal for Two
70. 70 Three Score and Ten / Blind 70
71. 71 Bang on the Drum
72. 72 Six Dozen / A Crutch and a Duck / Par for the Course
73. 73 Crutch and a flea / Queen B
74. 74 Candy Store
75. 75 Strive and Strive
76. 76 Trombones /Was She Worth It – The cost of a wedding license used to be 7 shillings and sixpence.
77. 77 Sunset Strip / All the Sevens / Two Little Crutches
78. 78 Heavens Gate
79. 79 One More Time
80. 80 Eight and Blank/Blind 80/Gandhi's Breakfast – Imagine looking down at Gandhi sitting cross legged in front of a large empty plate.
81. 81 Stop and Run
82. 82 Straight on Through/ Fat lady with a Duck
83. 83 Time for Tea / Ethel's Ear – The eight is a fat lady shape and the three is an ear shape.
84. 84 Seven Dozen
85. 85 Staying Alive
86. 86 Between the Sticks
87. 87 Torquay in Devon/ Fat lady with a Crutch
88. 88 Two fat ladies / All the Eights
89. 89 Nearly there / All but One
90. 90 Top of the Shop / Top of the House / Blind 90 / End of the Line

For more online bingo terms, chat room lingo and abbreviations, don't forget to check out our chat jargon and bingo glossary section.
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