The Complete Bingo Lingo List

1. Kelly’s Eye

The pun is military slang; it is often wrongly associated with a reference to Ned Kelly – there is no direct link. Kelly had two good eyes, and his helmet did have one slot for him to see through, but it was horizontal, not vertical. Also not named after the Valiant comic strip ‘Kelly’s Eye’, where the eponymous Kelly possessed a magic amulet, beacue the strip dates from 1961 where as the call orginated during the Boer War in 1900.

2. One little duck

The number 2 resembles a duck

2. Me and you

Romantic rhyme

3. Cup of tea

Rhymes with ‘Three’

3. You and me

Romantic rhyme

4. Knock at the door

Rhymes with ‘Four’

5. Man alive

Rhymes with ‘Five’

6. Tom Mix

Rhymes with ‘Six’. After Tom Mix, a star of silent-era Westerns

6. Half a dozen

‘A dozen’ is a commonly used phrase meaning twelve

7. Lucky

7 is considered a lucky number in some cultures

8. Garden gate

Rhymes with ‘Eight’

9. Doctor’s Orders

Number 9 was a laxative pill given out by army doctors in WWI.

10. Kier’s Den

Refers to whoever is currently the UK Prime Minister.

11. Legs eleven

Australian slang from WWI for a tall man with thin legs. The traditional wolf whistle response can now be seen as sexist. Read more here.

12. One dozen

A reference to 12 units in a dozen.

13. Unlucky for some

13 is often considered an unlucky number.

14. The Lawnmower

The original lawnmower had a 14-inch blade.

15. Young and Keen

Fifteen rhymes with keen

16. Never been kissed

16 is the age of sexual consent in the UK

17. Dancing Queen

In ABBA’s song Dancing Queen the Pre-Chorus states shee is 17:

You are the dancing queen
Young and sweet, only seventeen
Dancing queen
Feel the beat from the tambourine, oh, yeah.

18. Coming of Age

Eighteen is the age of majority in the UK.

19. Goodbye Teens

Nineteen is the age after which people stop being teenagers.

20. One Score

A reference to 20 units per score.

21. Key of the Door

The traditional age of maturity.

22. Two little ducks

22 resembles the profile of two ducks. Response is often ‘quack, quack, quack’.

23. The Lord is My Shepherd

The first words of Psalm 23 of the Old Testament

24. Knock at the door

Rhymes with ‘Twenty Four’

25. Duck and dive

Rhymes with ‘Twenty Five’

26. Two and six, half a crown.

Pre-decimalised currency in the UK.

27. Duck and a crutch.

The number 2 looks like a duck

28. Two and eight, in a state.

Rhyming slang for ‘state’.

29. Rise and Shine

Rhymes with ‘Twenty Nine’

30. Burlington Bertie

Reference to a music hall song of the same name composed in 1900, and a more famous parody ‘Burlington Bertie from Bow’ written in 1915. Burlington Bertie is 100 to 30 on the race track.

30. Dirty Gertie

Common rhyme derived from the given name Gertrude, used as a nickname for the statue La Delivrance installed in North London in 1927. The usage was reinforced by Dirty Gertie from Bizerte, a bawdy song sung by Allied soldiers in North Africa during the Second World War.

31. Get Up and Run

Rhymes with ‘Thirty One’

32. Buckle My Shoe

Rhymes with ‘Thirty Two’

33. All the threes

33. Fish, chips and peas

Rhymes with ‘Thirty Three’

34. Ask for More

Rhymes with ‘Thirty Four’

35. Jump and Jive

A dance step

36. Three dozen

3 x 12 = 36. Refer to 12 above

39. Steps

From the famous adventure novel The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan

44. Droopy drawers

Rhyme that refers to sagging trousers

45. Halfway there

Being halfway towards 90

48. Four Dozen

4 x 12 = 48. Refer to 12 above.

50. It’s a bullseye!

Referring to the dart’s score.

52. Danny La Rue

A reference to drag entertainer Danny La Rue. Also used for other numbers ending in ‘2’

52. Chicken vindaloo

Introduced by Butlins in 2003.

53. Here comes Herbie

53 is Herbie the VW Beetle’s racing number. Players may reply ‘beep beep’!

54. Man at the door

Rhymes with ‘Fifty Four’

55. Musty Hive

Rhymes with ‘Fifty Five’

56. Shotts Bus

Refers to the former bus number from Glasgow to Shotts.

57. Heinz Varieties

Refers to ‘Heinz 57’, the ‘57 Varieties’ slogan of the H. J. Heinz Company.

59. The Brighton Line

60. Grandma’s getting frisky

Pretty close to a rhyme with ‘sixty’

62. Tickety-boo

Rhymes with ‘Sixty Two’

64. Almost retired

A reference to the British age of mandatory retirement – specifically being one year away from it.

65. Stop work

A reference to the British age of mandatory retirement.

66. Clickety click

Rhymes with ‘Sixty Six’

67. Stairway to Heaven

68. Pick a Mate

69. Anyway up, Meal for Two, A Favourite of mine

A possible reference to the 69 sex position.

71. Bang on the Drum

Rhymes with ‘Seventy One’

72. Danny La Rue

Rhymes with ‘Seventy Two’

73. Queen Bee. Under The Tree. Lucky 3

Rhymes with ‘Seventy Three’

74. Hit the Floor

76. Trombones

‘Seventy-Six Trombones’ is a popular marching song, from the musical The Music Man.

76. Was she worth it?

This refers to the pre-decimal price of a marriage licence in Britain, 7/6d. The players shout back ‘Every Penny’

77. Two little crutches

The shape of the number resembles crutches

77. Sunset Strip

From the 1960s TV series ‘77 Sunset Strip’. Usually sung by the players.

78. 39 more steps

39 + 39 = 78. Refer to 39 being ‘39 steps’ above.

80. Gandhi’s Breakfast

Mahatma Gandhi famously did not eat breakfast: ‘ate nothing’

81. Fat Lady with a walking stick

The number 8 is supposed to visually represent a lady with ample bosom and hips, while the number 1 is supposed to visually represent a walking stick

83. Stop Farting!

The 8 is supposed to be the bottom, and the 3 is the fart. Then, when this is called, a player says, ‘Who? Me?’

84. Seven dozen

7 x 12 = 84. Refer to 12 being ‘a dozen’ above

85. Staying alive

Rhymes with ‘Eighty Five’

86. Between the sticks

Rhymes with ‘Eighty Six’

87. Torquay in Devon

Rhymes with ‘Eighty Seven’. Torquay is in the county of Devon.

88. Two Fat Ladies

The number 88 visually represents a lady next to another lady. Refer to 81 above.

89. Nearly there

89 is one away from 90 – the end of the bingo numbers.

89. Almost there

89 is one away from 90 – the end of the bingo numbers.

90. Top of the shop

90 is the highest ‘top’ number in bingo. Shop refers to the entire game of bingo and also rhymes with ‘top’.