Bingo calls
Ninety rhymes, most of them older than anyone still saying them — and why you will never hear one online
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Why online bingo has no caller
In a bingo hall a caller reads the numbers aloud and the rhymes do a job: they disambiguate. “Two and six, twenty-six” is hard to mishear in a loud room, and “legs eleven” cannot be confused with seven. Online, the number appears on your screen and is marked on your ticket automatically, so there is nothing to mishear and nothing to disambiguate.
What survives is the vocabulary, in the chat. Players use the calls as shorthand and hosts use them in chat games, so the list is worth knowing even though no software will say it to you. A few sites have experimented with recorded callers; none of the sites we track uses one.
The full list, 1 to 90
These are the standard British calls. Regional variants exist and halls invent their own, so treat this as the common set rather than an official one.
| No. | Call | No. | Call | No. | Call |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kelly’s eye | 31 | Get up and run | 61 | Baker’s bun |
| 2 | One little duck | 32 | Buckle my shoe | 62 | Turn on the screw |
| 3 | Cup of tea | 33 | All the threes | 63 | Tickle me |
| 4 | Knock at the door | 34 | Ask for more | 64 | Almost retired |
| 5 | Man alive | 35 | Jump and jive | 65 | Retirement age |
| 6 | Half a dozen | 36 | Three dozen | 66 | Clickety click |
| 7 | Lucky seven | 37 | More than eleven | 67 | Stairway to heaven |
| 8 | Garden gate | 38 | Christmas cake | 68 | Saving grace |
| 9 | Doctor’s orders | 39 | Steps | 69 | Either way up |
| 10 | Prime Minister’s den | 40 | Life begins | 70 | Three score and ten |
| 11 | Legs eleven | 41 | Time for fun | 71 | Bang on the drum |
| 12 | One dozen | 42 | Winnie the Pooh | 72 | Six dozen |
| 13 | Unlucky for some | 43 | Down on your knees | 73 | Queen bee |
| 14 | Valentine’s Day | 44 | Droopy drawers | 74 | Hit the floor |
| 15 | Young and keen | 45 | Halfway there | 75 | Strive and strive |
| 16 | Sweet sixteen | 46 | Up to tricks | 76 | Trombones |
| 17 | Dancing queen | 47 | Four and seven | 77 | Sunset strip |
| 18 | Coming of age | 48 | Four dozen | 78 | 39 more steps |
| 19 | Goodbye teens | 49 | PC | 79 | One more time |
| 20 | One score | 50 | Half a century | 80 | Eight and blank |
| 21 | Royal salute | 51 | Tweak of the thumb | 81 | Stop and run |
| 22 | Two little ducks | 52 | Danny La Rue | 82 | Straight on through |
| 23 | Thee and me | 53 | Here comes Herbie | 83 | Time for tea |
| 24 | Two dozen | 54 | Man at the door | 84 | Seven dozen |
| 25 | Duck and dive | 55 | All the fives | 85 | Staying alive |
| 26 | Pick and mix | 56 | Shotts bus | 86 | Between the sticks |
| 27 | Gateway to heaven | 57 | Heinz varieties | 87 | Torquay in Devon |
| 28 | In a state | 58 | Make them wait | 88 | Two fat ladies |
| 29 | Rise and shine | 59 | Brighton line | 89 | Nearly there |
| 30 | Dirty Gertie | 60 | Five dozen | 90 | Top of the shop |
Where they came from
Most are rhyming slang, and most are British and twentieth-century. Some are visual — “two little ducks” for 22 because the digits look like ducks, “two fat ladies” for 88 on the same principle, “legs eleven” for the shape of the numerals. Some are cultural references that have outlived what they referred to: “Danny La Rue” for 52 names a drag performer who died in 2009, “Heinz varieties” for 57 is a nineteenth-century advertising slogan, and “Winnie the Pooh” for 42 is simply a rhyme.
Several have been quietly revised. Older lists give 10 as a call naming whoever was in Downing Street, and it changed with the occupant; most modern lists use the neutral form. A few calls that were in circulation fifty years ago have fallen out of use for reasons that do not need explaining, and the halls that still call do not use them.
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Questions readers ask
Do online bingo sites use bingo calls?
No. The number appears on screen and is marked automatically, so there is nothing to mishear. The calls survive in the chat, where players and hosts use them as shorthand.
Why is 88 called two fat ladies?
Because the two digits were thought to resemble a pair of rounded figures. It is one of several visual calls, along with “two little ducks” for 22 and “legs eleven”.
Are bingo calls the same everywhere?
No. The list above is the common British set; halls invent their own, regional variants are widespread, and the American 75-ball game uses letter-and-number calls like “B-7” instead.
Why is 10 not called by a Prime Minister’s name any more?
Because it had to change every time the occupant did. Most modern lists use the neutral “Prime Minister’s den” for that reason.
