Those of you out there that enjoy a good delve into history and culture of UK bingo are in for a treat. The historian Dr. Carolyn Downs is back with another history piece, this time taking a look at bingo’s famous number names, their origins and meanings, and their place in the English language.
The article looks at some of the best known number names and how they’ve slipped into common usage outside of the bingo world, taking their place in the realms of popular culture and expression. She also looks at the multiple rhyming names for numbers and suggests where these names have come from. It’s interesting to see that they have come from a number of different areas. Some are from bingo’s time as a military game, others from famous figures in popular culture.
There are some real surprises in there as well, a few had me scratching my head in the past, but have been put in a new light for me by Dr. Carolyn Downs. She’s also mentioned a few that I’d not heard before. Pompey Whores anyone? No, me neither! There’s quite a few alternatives for each of the numbers as well, and to be honest, I have never seen such a well researched piece on the number names before this one.
It would surprise many who’d never played in a bingo hall that these calls are not used in the modern game, but they remain popular in the social clubs around the UK, and are often used at charity events and school bingo nights. A number of online bingo sites have kept them going too. I’m sure they still have a long life left in the yet, but it’s good to have such record of them for those interested or looking for info on them.
If you’d like to find out more about them then head on over to our history section for the full 3 part article, and whilst there, check out the other great pieces we have on the heritage and history of the UK’s land based bingo industry. You seriously won’t find anything like them anywhere else on the web.
