Top 10 British Bingo Calls Etymology

Bingo has got a slanguage of its own and there’s no wonder when you think about how tightly-knit the bingo community is. UK bingo calls are part of this lingo and although nowadays a lot of online operators have stopped using them, there are also those who have decided to keep them as a charming old relic from the times when bingo halls occupied abandoned movie theatres. Most of the calls are somewhat outdated nowadays, take for instance the “Kelly’s Eye” which is the nickname for 1. How many of you knew that this pun is military slang and possibly they referred to the one-eyed Australian folk hero Ned Kelly? In 2003 a holiday camp operator tried to introduce new calls that were more up-to-date but this attempt proved to be futile. I bet you didn’t know that 71 is followed by “J Lo’s bum” or that 32 is no longer “Buckle my shoe”, it’s “Jimmy Choo”.

9 – Doctor’s orders – Number 9 was the name of a popular laxative pill the doctors would give to soldiers who faked being ill.

10 – David’s den – The name is changed every 5 years when a new Prime Minister is elected and of course number 10 is for Downing Street.

11 – Legs – The resemblance of 11 to legs is uncanny, right.

16 – Never been kissed – This is the legal age of sexual consent in the UK

21 – Key of the door – And this is the age of majority.

22 – Two little ducks – The response is “Quack, quack, quack”

52 – Danny La Rue – A rhyme referring to the popular drag entertainer

76 – Was she worth it – Seven shilling and sixpence was the price of the marriage license, the players answer “Every penny!”

80 – Gandhi’s breakfast – Not so obvious resemblance to Mahatma Ghandi sitting cross-legged in front of an empty plate.

88 – Two fat ladies – This is pretty obvious and comes from the times when people were less politically correct.