Bingo Number Calls

As you probably know, when a number is called in a game of bingo, often the caller will marry it up with a special phrase such as two fat ladies (88), or unluckyfor some (13). This all adds to the atmosphere in a bingo hall, encouraging audience participation as well as making sure the numbers are clearly heard in the noisy room. Below is a list of the calls you might hear.

1. Kelly’s eye – (At the beginning / Nelson’s column / Bingo baby) Kelly’s eye named after the Australian gangster Ned Kelly who had only one eye.
2. One little duck – (Me and you / Doctor Who / Little boy blue)
   One little duck based upon the shape of the number – it looks like the neck of a swan.
3. Cup of tea – (You and me / One little flea / I’m free / Debbie McGee)
   
4. Knock at the door – (Bobby Moore)
   
5. Man alive – (One little snake)
   
6. Tom mix – (Tom’s tricks / Chopsticks)
   
7. Lucky seven – (God’s in heaven / One little crutch / David Beckham)
   
8. One fat lady – (Garden gate / Golden gate / Gareth Gates)
   
9. Doctor’s orders
   Originates from the British Army – in WW1 a pill known as number 9 was given out as a laxative by army doctors!
   
10. Tony’s den
    No doubt now will change to Gordon’s den as it refers to the current Prime Minister.
    
11. Legs Eleven
    
12. One dozen – (One and two / Monkey’s cousin)
    
13. Unlucky for some – (Devil’s number / Bakers dozen)
    
14. Valentines day
    
15. Young and keen – (Rugby team / Stroppy teen)
    
16. Sweet Sixteen – (She’s lovely / Never been kissed)
    
17. Dancing queen – (Often been kissed)
    Dancing queen from the Abba song ‘young and sweet, only seventeen’.
    
18. Coming of age
    
19. Goodbye teens
    
20. One score – (Getting plenty / Blind 20)
    
21. Key of the door
    
22. Two little ducks – (All the twos / Quack Quack)
    
23. Thee and me – (The Lord is my Shepherd)
    The Lord is my Shepherd refers to Psalm 23 in the Bible.
    
24. Two dozen
    
25. Duck and dive
    
26. Pick and mix – (Bed and breakfast / Half a crown)
    Bed and breakfast – the traditional price of bed and breakfast accommodation many years ago was 2 shillings and 6 pence (the equivalent of half a crown).
    
27. Gateway to heaven – (Little duck with a crutch)
    The number 7 looks like a crutch.
    
28. Over weight – (In a state / Duck and its mate)
    
29. Rise and Shine – (You're doing fine / In your prime)
    
30. Dirty Gertie – (Burlington Bertie / Speed limit / Flirty thirty / Blind 30)
    Burlington Bertie is racing slang – odds of 100-30 on the racing circuit.
    
31. Get up and run
    
32. Buckle my Shoe – (Jimmy Choo)
    
33. Dirty knees - (All the threes / Two little fleas / All the feathers / Sherwood Forest)
    Sherwood Forest – ‘all the trees’
    
34. Ask for more
    
35. Jump and jive
    
36. Three dozen
    
37. More than Eleven – (A flea in heaven)
    
38. Christmas cake
    
39. Those famous steps
    From the classic spy novel and film ‘The 39 Steps’.
    
40. Naughty Forty – (Life begins at / Two score)
    
41. Time for fun – (Life’s begun)
    
42. Whinny the Pooh
    
43. Down on your knees
    
44. Droopy drawers – (All the fours)
    
45. Halfway there – (Halfway house)
    
46. Up to tricks
    
47. Four and seven
    
48. Four dozen
    
49. PC (Police Constable) – (Copper / Nick nick)
    PC 49 was a well known radio police show in the 40s and 50s.
    
50. Half a century - (Bulls eye / Blind 50)
    
51. Tweak of the thumb
    
52. Danny La Rue – (Weeks in a year / Pack of cards)
    
53. Stuck in the tree – (feng shui)
    
54. Clean the floor
    
55. Snakes alive – (All the fives)
    
56. Was she worth it?
    
57. Heinz varieties
    Heinz (who make baked beans) historically made 57 varieties of products.
    
58. Make them wait – (Choo choo Thomas)
    
59. Brighton line
    The London to Brighton bus service was the number 59.
    
60. Five dozen – (Three score / Blind 60)
    
61. Bakers bun
    
62. Turn on the screw – (Tickety boo)
    
63. Tickle me
    
64. Red raw – (The Beatles)
    The Beatles is from the well-known song ‘When I’m Sixty Four’ and is often sung by players when the number is called out.
    
65. Old age pension
    
66. Clickety click – (All the sixes)
    
67. Made in heaven
    
68. Saving grace
    
69. Either way up – (The same both ways / Your place or mine / Meal for two)
    
70. Three score and ten – (Blind 70)
    
71. Bang on the drum – (J-Lo’s bum)
    
72. Six dozen – (A crutch and a duck / Par for the course)
    
73. Queen B – (Crutch and a flea)
    
74. Candy store
    
75. Strive and strive – (On the skive)
    
76. Trombones – (Was she worth it?)
    A musical piece called ’76 trombones’ is commonly played at parades. Was she worth it? – a wedding licence used to cost 7 shillings and 6 pence.
    
77. Sunset strip – (All the sevens / Two little crutches)
    
78. Heavens gate
    
79. One more time
    
80. Eight and blank – (Gandhi's breakfast / Blind 80)
    Gandhi’s breakfast refers to his protest fast ‘Eight Nothing’ or ‘Ate Nothing’
    
81. Stop and run – (Fat lady and a little wee)
    
82. Straight on through – (Fat lady with a duck)
    
83. Time for tea – (Fat lady with a flea / Ethel's Ear)
    
84. Seven dozen
    
85. Staying alive
    
86. Between the sticks
    
87. Torquay in Devon – (Fat lady with a crutch)
    
88. Two fat ladies – (All the eights / Wobbly Wobbly)
    
89. Nearly there – (All but one)
    
90. Top of the shop – (Top of the house / Blind 90 / End of the line)