New Bingo Lingo

UK holiday firm Butlins have given the famous game of Bingo an update by changing some of the traditional rhyming slang bingo callers use.

During the 1950s, rhyming slang was used as a fun replacement for number calling, for example, “two fat ladies”, instead of “88”.

The new Bingo rhyming slang has been introduced by Charlie Blake, a popular culture professor, who said that “Bingo calls are a barometer of 1950’s Britain…my task was to find reference points from 2003 which would have a much greater meaning to the British public today.”

Now British Bingo players may start hearing the new terms in their own games, including J-Lo’s bum for “71” and Chicken Vindaloo for “52”.

Other changes include Jimmy Choo for Buckle my Shoe (32) and Gareth Gates for eight. But the most famous calls such as Two fat ladies (88) and Clickety click (66) will remain.

However, whether Blake’s idea will travel well online is another thing – few outside of the UK have heard of Gareth Gates, and comedian Ali G is only just beginning to make headway in the US.