The Bingo Code

Forget the Bible Code, the Da Vinci Code, and the Code of the Woosters! I want to know why I got this far in life without ever being told about the Bingo Code. This is a way of announcing or repeating the latest Bingo number drawn in a humorous way. In a crowded, noisy room, it may also help to confirm a call. This version of bingo is played, apparently, with all numbers from 1 to 99 - or maybe 100; facts are a little vague. In fact, I think this is actually called "Housie, Housie". Some of the ruder code names may have come up when the game was the rage among soldiers in World War I.

"Clickety-click," said the Brigadier disconcertingly. Then: "Sixty-six." Then in rapid succession, in a loud sing-song tone: "Marine's breakfast number ten add two twelve all the five fifty-five never been kissed sweet sixteen key of the door twenty-one add six twenty-seven legs eleven Kelly's eye number one and we'll'..."
He paused. The regular officers and Tubby Blake gave tongue: "Shake the bag."

To begin with, there was no pier, promenade, or arcades; no shops where everything is miraculously priced at one pound; no places to buy saucy postcards or jaunty hats; no tearooms and fish and chip shops; no fortune tellers; no disembodied voice from a bingo parlor breathing out those strange coded calls: "Number 37 - the vicar's in the shrubs again," or whatever it is they say.

Number	Nickname	Explanation
1	Kelly's eye	(Ned Kelly had one eye[?])
1	buttered scone
2	me and you
2	buckle my shoe
3	you and me
3	cup of tea
4	knock at the door
5	man alive
6	chopping sticks
6	Tom Mix
6	Tom's tricks
7	God's in Heaven
8	garden gate
8	Harry Tate
8	Gareth Gates
9	doctor's orders
10	cock and hen	(rhyming)
10	Downing Street	the Prime Minister's address
10	Uncle Ben	(rhyming)
10	Tony's den	(Tony Blair)
11	legs eleven
12	monkey's cousin	(rhymes with "a dozen")
13	unlucky for some
14	Valentine's day
15	rugby team
15	stroppy teen
15	young and keen
16	never been kissed
17	never been kissed
17	dancing queen
18	coming of age
19	goodbye teens
20	blind 20
21	key of the door
22	dinky doo
22	two ducks	suggesting the neck of a swan
22	all the twos
23	duck and flea
23	thee and me
24	Pompey whore	Pompey = Portsmouth
24	two dozen
25	duck and dive
26	bed and breakfast	traditional price was 2 shillings 6 pence
26	half a crown	2 shillings 6 pence
27	gateway to heaven
28	over weight
29	rise and shine
30	speed limit
30	blind 30
30	Dirty Gertie
30	Ali G
31	get up and run
32	buckle my shoe
32	Jimmy Choo
33	all the threes
33	Gertie Lee
33	dirty knee
33	two fleas
34	ask for more
34	dirty whore
35	jump and jive
36	three dozen
37	flea in heaven
37	more than eleven
38	Christmas cake
39	all the steps	"The 39 Steps"
40	blind 40
41	time for fun
42	Winnie the Pooh
43	down on your knees
44	all the fours
44	Aldershot Ladies	= Aldershot Whores, rhymes with fours
44	Diana Dors	rhyming slang for "all the fours"
44	droopy drawers
45	halfway there
46	up to tricks
48	four dozen
49	rise and shine
50	halfway house	halfway to 100
50	blind 50
51	tweak of the thumb
52	Danny LaRue
52	chicken vindaloo
53	feng shui
54	clean the floor
55	all the fives
55	snakes alive
56	was she worth it
57	all the beans	Heinz 57 varieties
58	make them wait
59	the Brighton line	(engine 59)
60	blind 60
61	baker's bun
62	turn of the screw
63	tickle me
64	red raw
65	stop work	retirement age
65	old age pension
66	all the sixes
66	clickety click
67	made in heaven
68	saving grace
69	any way up
70	blind 70
71	bang on the drum
71	J Lo's bum	(Jennifer Lopez)
72	six dozen
73	Queen Bee
73	chamomile tea
74	candy store
75	strive and strive
75	on the skive
76	was she worth it?	(price of marriage license was 7s6d)
76	trombones
77	all the sevens
77	two little crutches
77	umbrellas
77	sunset strip
78	heaven's gate
79	one more time
80	blind 80
81	stop and run
82	straight on through
83	time for tea
84	seven dozen
85	staying alive
86	beat the sticks
87	Torquay in Devon
88	all the eights
88	two fat ladies
89	nearly there
90	blind 90
90	top of the house
99	all the nines
99	top of the house
100	top of the house

There is also a set of nicknames for rolls of the dice in craps, including

Number	Nickname
2	snake eyes
3	little britches
	acey-deucey
	trey
4=2+2	little Joe from Kokomo
	little Joe from Alamo
5	little Phoebe
	five in the South
	fever in the South
6	Jimmy Hix
	Captain Hicks
	sixty days
7	craps
	a natural
7=4+3	four and trey and take it away
7=5+2	five and two and you're all through
8	Ada from Decatur
	eighter from Decatur; Ada from Decatur
9	Nina from Carolina
	Nina with her hair down
	Nina, Nina, ocean liner
10	Big Dick from Boston
12	box cars