What are Two Little Ducks and Two Fat Ladies? They are Bingo Calls!

UK bingo playing is the activity which has become responsible for bingo calls, the purpose of the calls was initially started as a way to help players remember the numbers better. But they have become an integral part of the bingo scene and are part of the entertainment of the game. The better a bingo caller is, the more fun the players have and in the UK bingo calling is considered to be an art form, much like any other form of entertainment.

Many of these calls are derived from cockney rhyming slang, which does not only take place during calling the bingo numbers. For example a real cockney (Londoner) will call his car a “jam jar” and his wife a “ball-and-chain” even thought that doesn’t rhyme. I am just illustrating a point.

Bingo Number Calls and Rhymes

1. Kelly's Eye
2. One Little Duck
3. Cup of tea
4. Knock at the Door
5. Man Alive
6. Tom Nix
7. God's in Heaven
8. Garden Gate
9. Doctor's Orders – In World War 2 the British pill “Number 9” was a laxative.
10. Gordon's Den (changes with each Prime Minister).
11. Legs Eleven
12. One Dozen
13. Unlucky for Some
14. Valentines Day
15. Young and keen
16. Sweet Sixteen
17. Dancing Queen
18. Coming of Age
19. Goodbye Teens
20. One Score
21. Key of the Door
22. Two Little Ducks
23. Thee and Me
24. Two dozen
25. 25 Duck and Dive
26. Pick and Mix
27. Gateway to Heaven
28. Over Weight
29. Rise and Shine
30. Burlington Bertie 
31. Get up and Run
32. Buckle my Shoe
33. Dirty
34. Ask for More
35. Jump and Jive
36. Three Dozen
37. A Flea in Heaven
38. Christmas Cake
39. Those Famous Steps
40. Naughty Forty
41. Time for Fun
42. Winnie the Pooh
43. Down on your Knees
44. Droopy Drawers
45. Halfway There
46. Up to Tricks
47. Four and Seven
48. Four Dozen
49. P.C. Copper 
50. Half a Century
51. Tweak of the Thumb
52. Danny La Rue
53. Stuck in the Tree
54. Clean the Floor
55. Snakes Alive
56. Was she worth it?
57. Heinz Varieties
58. Make them Wait
59. Brighton Line - The London to Brighton bus service was the number 59.
60. Five Dozen
61. Bakers Bun
62. Turn on the Screw
63. Tickle Me
64. Red Raw
65. Old Age Pension - The age of retirement in the UK.
66. Clickety Click 
67. Made in Heaven 
68. Saving Grace
69. Meal for Two
70. Three Score and Ten
71. Bang on the Drum
72. Six Dozen
73. Queen Bee
74. Candy Store
75. Strive and Strive
76. Was She Worth It - The cost of a wedding license used to be 7 shillings and sixpence.
77. All the Sevens
78. Heavens Gate
79. One More Time
80. Eight and Blank
81. Stop and Run
82. Straight on Through
83. Time for Tea
84. Seven Dozen
85. Staying Alive
86. Between the Sticks
87. Torquay in Devon
88. Two fat ladies
89. Nearly there
90. Top of the Shop

So too in bingo calls you will find, 88 being called two fat ladies, because that is what the numbers symbolize, just as 22 is two little ducks, for the simple reason that 2’s look like little ducks. The number ten is rhyming and represents the Prime Ministers residence which is also number ten, so depending on the prevailing Prime Minister of the time, if 10 is called, it goes “number ten – Tony’s, Maggies, or Gordon’s den” would be called. The number “13 – unlucky for some” is self explanatory.

There are also historical and other references made in bingo calls, for numbers which have famous representations, such as no “57, Heinz Varieties”, or “65 – Old Age Pension”, which have some relevance. However there are also many bingo calls which don’t seem to make any sense at all, and these we have learned to live with. 

Rhyming is also quite popular in the US, but because the 75 b all bingo game is played, obviously not as many rhymes are used and they are not cockney slang, as US players would not relate to this. Audience participation is encouraged for some of the calls in both these countries, for example, if “22 – two little ducks” is called, the audience response will be “Quack – Quack”.