Bingo Lingo and Bingo Calls
Bingo number calls are often accompanied with short phrases which to most of people who never played bingo before can appear very strange indeed. The origins of those slang phrases come from the bingo halls. Bingo callers used them predominantly to make the drawn numbers clearer and more audible over the back noises of bingo clubs (having said that, I can assure that if you go to a bingo hall today and start talking and generating noise during a draw, I can guarantee you that your fellow bingo player will not hesitate to let you know how unwelcome you are!).
The bingo phrases are far less important online for the reasons that you are playing in the comfort of your house and you have a greater visual display. In addition the numbers are automatically daubed on your cards as opposed to the bingo hall whereby you need to pay real attention to the numbers and then daub them on your paper tickets. (see our online vs offline bingo section).
Most online bingo operators do not use the phrases anymore to make the draw faster but also because the calls phrases are simply redundant. There is however some site which have kept the tradition to retain the feel of bingo halls to appeal to all the nostalgic and bingo callers are now being asked to have their voice recorded for online integration.
Bingo callers have had an important place in the success of bingo halls and entertainment. There is even a bingo caller of the year award (http://www.nationalbingo.co.uk/caller.asp?pg=caller). However, the voice over selection is much wider and more specific now that there is no longer a need for physical presence. Operators tend to use and select professional voice over actors and actresses whose voice and tone would enhance the online bingo audio experience.
To keep the tradition alive, i-love-bingo.co.uk (I love bingo with dash) present below the list of all phrases associated to the bingo numbers.
| Kelly's Eye | 1 | One Little Duck | 2 | Cup of Tea | 3 |
| Knock at the Door | 4 | Man Alive | 5 | Tom's Tricks | 6 |
| Lucky | 7 | Garden Gate | 8 | Doctors Orders | 9 |
| Tony's Den | 10 | Legs Eleven | 11 | One Dozen | 12 |
| Unlucky for Some | 13 | Valentines Day | 14 | Young and Keen | 15 |
| Sweet Sixteen | 16 | Dancing Queen | 17 | Coming of Age | 18 |
| Goodbye-Teens | 19 | One Score | 20 | Key of the Door | 21 |
| Two Little Ducks | 22 | Thee and Me | 23 | Two Dozen | 24 |
| Duck and Dive | 25 | Pick and Mix | 26 | Gateway to Heaven | 27 |
| Over Weight | 28 | Rise and Shine | 29 | Dirty Gertie | 30 |
| Get up and Run | 31 | Buckle my Shoe | 32 | Dirty Knee | 33 |
| Ask for More | 34 | Jump and Jive | 35 | Three Dozen | 36 |
| More than Eleven | 37 | Christmas Cake | 38 | Steps | 39 |
| Naughty Forty | 40 | Time for Fun | 41 | Whinney the Poo | 42 |
| Down on your Knees | 43 | Droopy Drawers | 44 | Halfway There | 45 |
| Up to Tricks | 46 | Four and Seven | 47 | Four Dozen | 48 |
| P.C. | 49 | Half a Century | 50 | Tweak of the Thumb | 51 |
| Danny La Rue | 52 | Stuck in the Tree | 53 | Clean the Floor | 54 |
| Snakes Alive | 55 | Was she worth it | 56 | Heinz Varieties | 57 |
| Make them Wait | 58 | Brighton Line | 59 | Five Dozen | 60 |
| Bakers Bun | 61 | Turn on the Screw | 62 | Tickle Me | 63 |
| Red Raw | 64 | Old Age Pension | 65 | Clickety Click | 66 |
| Made in Heaven | 67 | Saving Grace | 68 | Either Way Up | 69 |
| Three Score & Ten | 70 | Bang on the Drum | 71 | Six Dozen | 72 |
| Queen B | 73 | Candy Store | 74 | Strive & Strive | 75 |
| Trombones | 76 | Sunset Strip | 77 | Heavens Gate | 78 |
| One More Time | 79 | Eight & Blank | 80 | Stop & Run | 81 |
| Straight On Through | 82 | Time for Tea | 83 | Seven Dozen | 84 |
| Staying Alive | 85 | Between the Sticks | 86 | Torquay in Devon | 87 |
| Two Fat Ladies | 88 | Nearly There | 89 | Top of the Shop | 90 |
