About Bingo Numbers And The Names Associated With Them - Part 1

A brief look at the names used to describe Bingo numbers and their origins.

Author: Dio

Introduction - A Duck And A Crutch - Twenty Seven!

Page 1 | Page 2

In my past experience, on of the first things most people mention when going to play Bingo for the first time is the numbers. They'll say something like "Ha ha, will it be two fat ladies and all that stuff?"

The answer often disappoints, because most people new to the game don't realise that the modern large club has done away with the funny names for the numbers. Many smaller venues (normally not part of the national chains) or social clubs where Bingo is played use the numbers still, but the places you'll still hear them these days are becoming less and less.

Them Old Numbers Just Don't Cut It These Days...

There are a couple of rough reasons why the old names were phased out. In my opinion, one of the biggest reason is commercial, losing the names means the games are called faster which means more games, which in turn means more profits for the clubs.

The second reason is technology. There was initially a time the names were used in the big clubs - which can be traced back to before the advent of the computerised number generating systems. When the games were called using blowers there was enough of a delay to allow the call back of the names.

Having spoken to many regular players who'd played both styles of numbers, a larger proportion seemed happier with the new swifter version. However, they missed the variety of games that they used to play - marking off shapes and corners on tickets etc. In fact in my experience, many of the regulars would shout for you to speed up if the calling speed dropped to a slower level. Whether this bares out around the country is to be discovered.

The Origins Of The Numbers

It appears a lot of the numbers were derived from a number of places - a lot seem to have come from Cockney rhyming slang "33 - dirty knees!" or similar rhyming schemes. Also, famous numbers make a showing so 50 is Bullseye and 65 Old age pension. There are also some numbers with origins in the unlikeliest of places - 39 Those famous steps, from the book 'The 39 Steps' and 23 - The Lord is my Shepherd from Psalm 23 in 'The Bible'.

A number have also come from the shapes of the numbers and what they look similar too. As well as that, there are often combinations. So whilst a 2 is a duck and 7 a crutch, then 27 is a duck on a crutch. And just to further confuse matters, there are many regional variations on numbers as well.

Collected on the next page are a selection of them for you. It is, I stress, far from complete and thanks to variations and fashions, not necessarily fully accurate. If you can flesh out the numbers, or have info we can add - don't hesitate to drop us an email with details.

Continue to Part 2: The Numbers' Names >>

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About Bingo Numbers And The Names Associated With Them - Part 1

Introduction - A Duck And A Crutch - Twenty Seven!

Them Old Numbers Just Don't Cut It These Days...

The Origins Of The Numbers

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