Bingo calls 1 to 90: the traditional UK nicknames
Traditional British bingo callers give most of the 90 numbers a nickname that rhymes, looks like the digits or comes from a song or saying: 1 is Kelly's eye, 22 is two little ducks, 66 is clickety click and 90 is top of the shop. The full list is in the table below, with the alternatives that different halls use.
Why 66 is “clickety click”
Clickety click is the traditional call for 66, said with a rhythm: clickety click, sixty-six. It is one of the best-known calls, and it is where our app gets its name. In Clickety, every ball you call is a small moment of that same rhythm: a tap, a click and the number lands on the board.
Traditional bingo nicknames, 1 to 90
90-ball bingo uses the numbers 1 to 90, so this is the full set. Where a number has two names, both are listed. Calls shown dimmed are the ones many halls have dropped (see below). The list follows the one on Wikipedia, List of British bingo nicknames.
| Number | Nickname | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kelly's eye | |
| 2 | One little duck | |
| 3 | Cup of tea | Rhymes with three |
| 4 | Knock at the door | Rhymes with four |
| 5 | Man alive | |
| 6 | Half a dozen / Tom Mix | Tom Mix was a cowboy film star; rhymes with six |
| 7 | Lucky seven | The lucky number |
| 8 | Garden gate / One fat ladyoften dropped | |
| 9 | Doctor's orders | |
| 10 | Downing Street | The prime minister's address; callers sometimes name the current PM |
| 11 | Legs eleven | Two 1s look like a pair of legs |
| 12 | One dozen | A dozen |
| 13 | Unlucky for some | The unlucky number |
| 14 | Valentine's Day | 14 February |
| 15 | Young and keen | |
| 16 | Sweet sixteen / Never been kissed | The song and the birthday |
| 17 | Dancing queen | After the ABBA song |
| 18 | Coming of age | The age of majority |
| 19 | Goodbye teens | |
| 20 | One score | A score is twenty |
| 21 | Key of the door / Royal salute | A 21st birthday traditionally comes with a key |
| 22 | Two little ducks | Two 2s look like ducks |
| 23 | Thee and me | |
| 24 | Two dozen | 2 x 12 |
| 25 | Duck and dive | |
| 26 | Pick and mix / Half a crown | Half a crown was 2s 6d (2/6) |
| 27 | Gateway to heaven / Duck and a crutch | |
| 28 | In a state | |
| 29 | Rise and shine | |
| 30 | Dirty Gertieoften dropped | |
| 31 | Get up and run | |
| 32 | Buckle my shoe | |
| 33 | All the threes / Dirty kneeoften dropped | |
| 34 | Ask for more | |
| 35 | Jump and jive | |
| 36 | Three dozen | 3 x 12 |
| 37 | More than eleven | |
| 38 | Christmas cake | |
| 39 | All the steps (39 Steps) | The Hitchcock film The 39 Steps |
| 40 | Life begins / Naughty fortyoften dropped | |
| 41 | Time for fun | |
| 42 | Winnie the Pooh | After the bear in A. A. Milne's stories |
| 43 | Down on your knees | |
| 44 | All the fours / Droopy drawersoften dropped | |
| 45 | Halfway there | Halfway to 90 |
| 46 | Up to tricks | |
| 47 | Four and seven | |
| 48 | Four dozen | 4 x 12 |
| 49 | PC | |
| 50 | Half a century / It's a bullseye | The bullseye of a dartboard |
| 51 | Tweak of the thumb | |
| 52 | Weeks in a year / Deck of cards | Weeks in a year, cards in a deck |
| 53 | Stuck in the tree / Here comes Herbie | |
| 54 | Clean the floor / Man at the door | |
| 55 | Snakes alive / All the fives | |
| 56 | Shotts bus / Was she worth it?often dropped | |
| 57 | Heinz varieties | |
| 58 | Make them wait | |
| 59 | Brighton line | |
| 60 | Five dozen | 5 x 12 |
| 61 | Baker's bun | |
| 62 | Tickety-boo / Turn the screw | |
| 63 | Tickle me | |
| 64 | Red raw | |
| 65 | Old age pension | The traditional pension age |
| 66 | Clickety click | Said with a rhythm: clickety click, sixty-six |
| 67 | Stairway to heaven / Made in heaven | |
| 68 | Saving grace / Pick a mate | |
| 69 | Any way up / Either way upoften dropped | |
| 70 | Three score and ten | Three score years and ten |
| 71 | Bang on the drum | |
| 72 | Six dozen | 6 x 12 |
| 73 | Queen bee / Under the tree | |
| 74 | Hit the floor / Candy store | |
| 75 | Strive and strive | |
| 76 | Trombones | From the song Seventy-Six Trombones |
| 77 | Sunset strip / Two little crutches | After the TV series 77 Sunset Strip |
| 78 | Heaven's gate / 39 more steps | |
| 79 | One more time | |
| 80 | Eight and blank / Gandhi's breakfastoften dropped | |
| 81 | Stop and run / Fat lady with a walking stickoften dropped | |
| 82 | Straight on through | |
| 83 | Time for tea | |
| 84 | Give me more | |
| 85 | Staying alive | After the Bee Gees song |
| 86 | Between the sticks | |
| 87 | Torquay in Devon | |
| 88 | Two fat ladiesoften dropped | Two 8s look like two round figures |
| 89 | Nearly there / Almost there | |
| 90 | Top of the shop | The highest number on the board |
A short history of calling numbers
Bingo grew out of lotto games that have been played in Europe for centuries. In Britain, the game was popular with the armed forces as “housey-housey”, and it spread through bingo halls after commercial bingo was legalised in 1960. Calling numbers aloud with a quip is as old as the game: a quick rhyme helps a noisy hall hear the number, and a bit of banter keeps the room awake. Many of the calls are visual (two 2s look like two little ducks), arithmetic (3 dozen is 36), rhyming (4 is knock at the door) or borrowed from songs, films and everyday sayings.
Calls many halls have retired
Some traditional calls mock bodies or are bawdy. Many halls and callers no longer use them: the fat-lady calls (8, 81 and 88), the “dirty” and “naughty” ones (30, 33, 40 and 44), and a few others. Callers often use the other name for the number instead, such as “life begins” for 40, or simply say the plain number. The call for 10, Downing Street, names the prime minister's address, and some callers add the name of whoever is in office.
What Clickety's UK voice says
Clickety's voice has two styles: plain numbers, or traditional UK calls. The UK style uses a family-friendly selection: body-shape and bawdy calls, the pre-decimal money calls and the prime-minister call are replaced, and 30, 56 and 88 are simply said as plain numbers. A call comes out as the nickname followed by the number, for example “Two little ducks, 22”. You can switch the voice off, or to plain numbers, in Settings.
Want to play? See how to host a bingo night, or learn the bingo patterns that 90-ball tickets use: one line, two lines and full house.
Run your next bingo night with Clickety
Clickety calls the numbers, reads them out loud with the traditional UK nicknames if you like, and shows them on a big board.