Bingo is an extremely popular game, both online and off. Millions of people from countries all over the world enjoy the game in local bingo houses, and millions more play it online.
Whether you’re playing standard bingo or an online version, you’ll quickly learn that there is a whole set of terms that hardcore bingo players know.
This bingo lingo if you will is important if you want to be quick and good at bingo. It’s less important for online bingo, but if you’re playing in a real bingo house, you really do need to know your terms, or you’ll fall behind quickly.
Learning the lingo
The primary bingo lingo you should learn is the nicknames for all the calls. I cannot teach you all of them in a single article, so you’ll have to do some research of your own.
You also can’t expect to memorize all of them instantly, especially considering there are 90 numbers, each with 1-5+ nicknames. Learning your terms for bingo will take a while, so don’t rush it and try to cram it all into your head.
Take your time: the knowledge will come with experience. Also, remember that in online bingo, the only times these terms will really be used is in the chat, when players are discussing the game.
If you like to chat with others while playing, then learning the terms is important. If you’re just in it for the bingo, I wouldn’t worry about spending too much time on the study of such terms.
A few examples
Each call, or number, in bingo has its own nickname(s). The important ones like 1 (Kelly’s Eye, Buttered Scone, At the Beginning, etc) and 90 (Top of the Shop, Blind 90, End of the Line, etc.) have multiple nicknames, sometimes up to 6 or 7.
The less important ones (ie. Random numbers in the middle of the range), such as 79 (One More Time) and 78 (Heaven’s Gate) have only 1 or 2 nicknames. Some of the calls make sense and are related to the number, like 50 (Half a Century, Hawaii Five-O, etc.), while others seem completely random, and must simply be memorized, like 32 (Buckle My Shoe and Jimmy Choo).
Keep in mind that these calls are not necessarily going to be the same everywhere you go.
Some bingo halls like to change things up to keep up with trends. Some bingo calls go out of style and are rarely used any more, while others will be in use for quite some time to come.
Like I said before, there is no point in studying these terms until you know them all. Try to just get a general understanding of the basic ones, and then learn as you play.
If you’re in a competitive bingo hall that uses a lot of nicknames, you can talk to the people around you and get help. If you’re playing online, the need to know the calls will not be so great.