p***@coldpost.com
2003-10-23 19:24:43 UTC
GP-CAE/CPE - Grupo Preparatório para CAE and CPE
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL: Bingo!
HISTORY: The origins of Bingo can be traced back to Italy in the year
1530 when a State run lottery game "Lo Giuco del Lotto" was
originated. The lottery is still held every Saturday in Italy. "Le
Lotto" migrated to France in the late 1700's in a form similar to the
Bingo we know today, with a playing card, tokens and numbers read out
loud. Throughout the 1800's these lottery types of games spread
quickly throughout Europe and many variations of the game were
created. In the USA in 1929, a game called "Beano" was played at a
carnival near Atlanta, Georgia. The game's tools consisted of dried
beans, a rubber number stamp and some cardboard. A New York toy
salesman named Edwin Lowe, observed the game where players exclaimed
"BEANO!" if they filled a line of numbers on their card. Lowe
introduced the game to his friends in New York where one of them
mistakenly yelled "B-B-B-BINGO!" in her excitement. Lowe loved the
word so "Lowe's Bingo" soon became very popular and by the 1940's
Bingo games had sprung up all over the USA with thousands of games
being played every week. In 1930 Lowe asked Carl Leffler, a maths
professor at Columbia University, to help him devise 6,000 bingo cards
with non-repeating number groups so that two or more players could not
win simultaneously. It is said that after completing the arduous task
successfully the professor went insane! Coincidence?
In the Royal Navy the game was named "Tombola" (Maltese), in the
British Army it was named "Housey-Housey", and in shop-bought games it
is normally called "Lotto" (the Italian word for a lottery or raffle).
Today Bingo games can be found just about everywhere in the world -
even in GP-CAE/CPE sessions!
BINGO NICKNAMES: Bingo play uses nicknames as a way of announcing or
repeating in a humorous way the Bingo number drawn. In a crowded,
noisy room, it also helps to confirm the number called. The list below
shows some of the nicknames of each bingo number. Remember that no
list is definitive and some nicknames may not make sense. Many of the
terms were devised in the 1950's and give an insight into popular
language at the time. Many of the nicknames are assigned due to their
rhyming characteristics (as in "number 8, garden gate"); however, when
the meaning or the reference is not obvious, and the explanation is
long-winded, then the (?) sign after the word or expression signifies
that the explanation, when known, is given at the foot of the list.
The bingo game starts with the traditional call to attention: "Eyes
Down".
When you complete your card (all the numbers) shout "Bingo!" or
"House!" as loud and as quickly as you can.
1.... Kelly's eye, Nelson's column, Buttered scone, Little Jimmy, At
the beginning (Genesis, Book 1)
2.... One little duck, Baby's done it (pooh-faeces), Doctor Who (TV
Series), Me and you
3.... Time for tea, Cup of tea, Dearie me, I'm free, Debbie McGee, You
and me, One little flea
4.... The one next door, On the floor, Knock at the door, Bobby Moore
(English football player)
5.... Man alive, Jack's alive, Still alive
6.... Tom Mix (cowboy from children's comics), Tom's tricks,
Chopsticks
7.... Lucky seven, God's in heaven, One little crutch (appearance)
8.... Garden gate, Golden gate, At the gate, Harry Tate, One fat lady,
She's always late, Sexy Kate
9.... Doctor's orders (?), Doctor's Joy (?)
10.. Downing Street (?), Cock and hen (cockney), Uncle Ben
11.. Legs eleven, Legs - they're lovely, Kelly's legs number eleven,
Chicken legs, Two towers down (11 Sept.)
12.. One and two - a dozen, Monkey's cousin (cockney)
13.. Unlucky for some, Devil's number, Baker's dozen
14.. Valentine's day (14 February)
15.. Rugby team (number of players), Young and keen
16.. Sweet sixteen (song title), She's lovely, Never been kissed
(hardly likely in this day and age!)
17.. Often been kissed, Old Ireland (St. Patrick's Day, 17 Mar.),
Dancing queen, The age to catch 'em
18.. Now you can vote, Coming of age
19.. Goodbye teens
20.. One score (in English a 'score' is 20), Blind 20, Getting plenty
(of sex!)
21.. Key to the door, Royal salute (# of guns fired)
22.. All the twos, Two little ducks (suggestive of the necks), Ducks
on a pond, Dinky doo
23.. A duck and a Flea, Thee and me, The Lord's my Shepherd (23rd
Psalm)
24.. Two dozen, Did you score?, Want some more?
25.. Duck and dive
26.. Half a crown (?), Pick and mix
27.. Little duck with a crutch, Gateway to heaven
28.. In a state, The old braggs (?), Overweight, Duck and its mate
29.. You're doing fine, In your prime, Rise and shine (army wake-up
call - get up, clean boots)
30.. Dirty Gertie, Burlington Bertie(?), Speed limit (in built-up
areas in the UK), Blind 30, Flirty thirty
31.. Get up and run
32.. Buckle my shoe (nursery rhyme)
33.. Dirty knees, All the feathers (?), All the threes, Gertie Lee,
Two little fleas, Sherwood forest (?)
34.. Ask for more
35.. Jump and jive
36.. Three dozen
37.. A flea in heaven, More than eleven
38.. Christmas cake
39.. Those famous steps (?), All the steps (?)
40.. Two score (2*20), Life begins at, Blind 40, Naughty 40
41.. Life's begun (began at 40), Time for fun
42.. That famous street in Manhattan, Winnie the Pooh
43.. Down on your knees
44.. Droopy drawers (=knickers, not furniture!), All the fours, Open
the doors, Diana Dors (UK model)
45.. Halfway house, Halfway there (half of 90), Cowboy's friend (Colt
45 revolver)
46.. Up to tricks
47.. Four and seven
48.. Four dozen
49.. PC (?), Copper
50.. Bull's eye (darts), Blind 50, Half a century, Snow White's number
(?), Hawaii Five-O (TV series)
51.. I love my mum, Tweak of the thumb
52.. Danny La Rue (British drag queen), Weeks in a year, Chicken
vindaloo
53.. Stuck in the tree
54.. Clean the floor, House of Bamboo (famous song)
55.. Snakes alive, All the fives, Double nickels, Give us fives, Bunch
of fives
56.. Was she worth it?
57.. Heinz, All the beans (Heinz 57 canned beans)
58.. Make 'em wait, Choo-choo Thomas (engine no.)
59.. Brighton line (?)
60.. Three score, Blind 60, Five dozen
61.. Baker's bun
62.. Tickety-boo (colloq: correct, fine), To Waterloo (?)
63.. Tickle me
64.. The Beatles number ("When I'm 64"), Red raw
65.. Old age pension, Stop work (retirement age)
66.. Clickety click, All the sixes
67.. Made in heaven, Argumentative number
68.. Saving grace
69.. The same both ways, Any way up, Either way up, Any way round,
Your place or mine?, Meal for two, The old French custom (these last
three have sexual connotations)
70.. Three score and ten, Blind 70
71.. Bang on the drum, J-Lo's bum (Jennifer Lopez)
72.. A crutch and a duck, Six dozen, Par for the course (golf)
73.. Queen B, Crutch with a flea, Under the tree
74.. Candy store
75.. Strive and strive, Big Daddy
76.. Trombones, Seven 'n' six - was she worth it? (?)
77.. Sunset strip (TV series), All the sevens, Two little crutches
(appearance)
78.. Heaven's gate
79.. One more time
80.. Gandhi's breakfast (?), Blind 80, Eight and blank
81.. Fat lady and a little wee, Stop and run
82.. Fat lady with a duck, Straight on through
83.. Fat lady with a flea, Time for tea, Ethel's Ear
84.. Seven dozen
85.. Staying alive
86.. Between the sticks
87.. Fat lady with a crutch, Torquay in Devon
88.. Two fat ladies, Wobbly-wobbly, All the eights
89.. Nearly there, All but one
90.. Top of the house, Blind 90, As far as we go, End of the line
(?) Explanation of some nicknames:
9 Doctor's orders - in WWII doctors wrote a 9 p.m. curfew on sick
notes. Doctor's joy - sick bay purgative pill
10 Downing Street - UK Prime Minister's address.
26 Half a crown (equivalent to 2 shillings and 6 pence [2/6d], or 12 ½
p in decimal currency).
28 The Old Braggs - 28th Foot (Gloucestershire) Regiment, whose
colonel in 1734 was Philip Bragg.
30 Burlington Bertie (…from Bow) - popular music hall song
33 All the feathers - from cockney: "firty-free fousand fevvers on a
frush's froat."; Sherwood Forest - "all the trees"
39 All the steps/Those famous steps - book and film, "The Thirty-nine
Steps", about wartime spies in the UK.
49 PC=Police Constable - PC49: name of a post-war BBC radio series
50 Snow White's number - "five-oh, five-oh" - a mutation of "Hi-Ho,
Hi-Ho".
56 Was she worth it? - 5/6d - rate for the services of a Pompey whore
(Portsmouth lady of the night) during WWII.
59 Brighton line - some say train fare from London was 5/9d; others
say engine number of the first "Brighton Belle"
62 Six 'n' two - 6/2d - rail fare from Portsmouth (naval base) to
London during WWII
76 Trombones - "76 Trombones" music from the famous "The Music Man"
Broadway show.
76 Seven 'n' six - was she worth it? 7/6d. - the price of a marriage
licence during WWII (World War II).
80 Eight-nought = "Ate nought": Gandhi ate nought [nothing] for
breakfast - spiritual fasting.
Self-study Assignment: Read through the nickname list and try to
understand the significance of each nickname.
In the next session I will be answering questions about the cultural
aspects involved in these nicknames. Then we will have a Bingo
session! During play I will call out only a number's nickname - not
the number itself!. The first participant that shouts out the
corresponding number will be rewarded, for each correct answer, with a
20-word reduction in next week's self-study assignment - which will be
a 500-word essay on the theme, "The History of Bingo in Brazil".
EYES DOWN!!
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL: Bingo!
HISTORY: The origins of Bingo can be traced back to Italy in the year
1530 when a State run lottery game "Lo Giuco del Lotto" was
originated. The lottery is still held every Saturday in Italy. "Le
Lotto" migrated to France in the late 1700's in a form similar to the
Bingo we know today, with a playing card, tokens and numbers read out
loud. Throughout the 1800's these lottery types of games spread
quickly throughout Europe and many variations of the game were
created. In the USA in 1929, a game called "Beano" was played at a
carnival near Atlanta, Georgia. The game's tools consisted of dried
beans, a rubber number stamp and some cardboard. A New York toy
salesman named Edwin Lowe, observed the game where players exclaimed
"BEANO!" if they filled a line of numbers on their card. Lowe
introduced the game to his friends in New York where one of them
mistakenly yelled "B-B-B-BINGO!" in her excitement. Lowe loved the
word so "Lowe's Bingo" soon became very popular and by the 1940's
Bingo games had sprung up all over the USA with thousands of games
being played every week. In 1930 Lowe asked Carl Leffler, a maths
professor at Columbia University, to help him devise 6,000 bingo cards
with non-repeating number groups so that two or more players could not
win simultaneously. It is said that after completing the arduous task
successfully the professor went insane! Coincidence?
In the Royal Navy the game was named "Tombola" (Maltese), in the
British Army it was named "Housey-Housey", and in shop-bought games it
is normally called "Lotto" (the Italian word for a lottery or raffle).
Today Bingo games can be found just about everywhere in the world -
even in GP-CAE/CPE sessions!
BINGO NICKNAMES: Bingo play uses nicknames as a way of announcing or
repeating in a humorous way the Bingo number drawn. In a crowded,
noisy room, it also helps to confirm the number called. The list below
shows some of the nicknames of each bingo number. Remember that no
list is definitive and some nicknames may not make sense. Many of the
terms were devised in the 1950's and give an insight into popular
language at the time. Many of the nicknames are assigned due to their
rhyming characteristics (as in "number 8, garden gate"); however, when
the meaning or the reference is not obvious, and the explanation is
long-winded, then the (?) sign after the word or expression signifies
that the explanation, when known, is given at the foot of the list.
The bingo game starts with the traditional call to attention: "Eyes
Down".
When you complete your card (all the numbers) shout "Bingo!" or
"House!" as loud and as quickly as you can.
1.... Kelly's eye, Nelson's column, Buttered scone, Little Jimmy, At
the beginning (Genesis, Book 1)
2.... One little duck, Baby's done it (pooh-faeces), Doctor Who (TV
Series), Me and you
3.... Time for tea, Cup of tea, Dearie me, I'm free, Debbie McGee, You
and me, One little flea
4.... The one next door, On the floor, Knock at the door, Bobby Moore
(English football player)
5.... Man alive, Jack's alive, Still alive
6.... Tom Mix (cowboy from children's comics), Tom's tricks,
Chopsticks
7.... Lucky seven, God's in heaven, One little crutch (appearance)
8.... Garden gate, Golden gate, At the gate, Harry Tate, One fat lady,
She's always late, Sexy Kate
9.... Doctor's orders (?), Doctor's Joy (?)
10.. Downing Street (?), Cock and hen (cockney), Uncle Ben
11.. Legs eleven, Legs - they're lovely, Kelly's legs number eleven,
Chicken legs, Two towers down (11 Sept.)
12.. One and two - a dozen, Monkey's cousin (cockney)
13.. Unlucky for some, Devil's number, Baker's dozen
14.. Valentine's day (14 February)
15.. Rugby team (number of players), Young and keen
16.. Sweet sixteen (song title), She's lovely, Never been kissed
(hardly likely in this day and age!)
17.. Often been kissed, Old Ireland (St. Patrick's Day, 17 Mar.),
Dancing queen, The age to catch 'em
18.. Now you can vote, Coming of age
19.. Goodbye teens
20.. One score (in English a 'score' is 20), Blind 20, Getting plenty
(of sex!)
21.. Key to the door, Royal salute (# of guns fired)
22.. All the twos, Two little ducks (suggestive of the necks), Ducks
on a pond, Dinky doo
23.. A duck and a Flea, Thee and me, The Lord's my Shepherd (23rd
Psalm)
24.. Two dozen, Did you score?, Want some more?
25.. Duck and dive
26.. Half a crown (?), Pick and mix
27.. Little duck with a crutch, Gateway to heaven
28.. In a state, The old braggs (?), Overweight, Duck and its mate
29.. You're doing fine, In your prime, Rise and shine (army wake-up
call - get up, clean boots)
30.. Dirty Gertie, Burlington Bertie(?), Speed limit (in built-up
areas in the UK), Blind 30, Flirty thirty
31.. Get up and run
32.. Buckle my shoe (nursery rhyme)
33.. Dirty knees, All the feathers (?), All the threes, Gertie Lee,
Two little fleas, Sherwood forest (?)
34.. Ask for more
35.. Jump and jive
36.. Three dozen
37.. A flea in heaven, More than eleven
38.. Christmas cake
39.. Those famous steps (?), All the steps (?)
40.. Two score (2*20), Life begins at, Blind 40, Naughty 40
41.. Life's begun (began at 40), Time for fun
42.. That famous street in Manhattan, Winnie the Pooh
43.. Down on your knees
44.. Droopy drawers (=knickers, not furniture!), All the fours, Open
the doors, Diana Dors (UK model)
45.. Halfway house, Halfway there (half of 90), Cowboy's friend (Colt
45 revolver)
46.. Up to tricks
47.. Four and seven
48.. Four dozen
49.. PC (?), Copper
50.. Bull's eye (darts), Blind 50, Half a century, Snow White's number
(?), Hawaii Five-O (TV series)
51.. I love my mum, Tweak of the thumb
52.. Danny La Rue (British drag queen), Weeks in a year, Chicken
vindaloo
53.. Stuck in the tree
54.. Clean the floor, House of Bamboo (famous song)
55.. Snakes alive, All the fives, Double nickels, Give us fives, Bunch
of fives
56.. Was she worth it?
57.. Heinz, All the beans (Heinz 57 canned beans)
58.. Make 'em wait, Choo-choo Thomas (engine no.)
59.. Brighton line (?)
60.. Three score, Blind 60, Five dozen
61.. Baker's bun
62.. Tickety-boo (colloq: correct, fine), To Waterloo (?)
63.. Tickle me
64.. The Beatles number ("When I'm 64"), Red raw
65.. Old age pension, Stop work (retirement age)
66.. Clickety click, All the sixes
67.. Made in heaven, Argumentative number
68.. Saving grace
69.. The same both ways, Any way up, Either way up, Any way round,
Your place or mine?, Meal for two, The old French custom (these last
three have sexual connotations)
70.. Three score and ten, Blind 70
71.. Bang on the drum, J-Lo's bum (Jennifer Lopez)
72.. A crutch and a duck, Six dozen, Par for the course (golf)
73.. Queen B, Crutch with a flea, Under the tree
74.. Candy store
75.. Strive and strive, Big Daddy
76.. Trombones, Seven 'n' six - was she worth it? (?)
77.. Sunset strip (TV series), All the sevens, Two little crutches
(appearance)
78.. Heaven's gate
79.. One more time
80.. Gandhi's breakfast (?), Blind 80, Eight and blank
81.. Fat lady and a little wee, Stop and run
82.. Fat lady with a duck, Straight on through
83.. Fat lady with a flea, Time for tea, Ethel's Ear
84.. Seven dozen
85.. Staying alive
86.. Between the sticks
87.. Fat lady with a crutch, Torquay in Devon
88.. Two fat ladies, Wobbly-wobbly, All the eights
89.. Nearly there, All but one
90.. Top of the house, Blind 90, As far as we go, End of the line
(?) Explanation of some nicknames:
9 Doctor's orders - in WWII doctors wrote a 9 p.m. curfew on sick
notes. Doctor's joy - sick bay purgative pill
10 Downing Street - UK Prime Minister's address.
26 Half a crown (equivalent to 2 shillings and 6 pence [2/6d], or 12 ½
p in decimal currency).
28 The Old Braggs - 28th Foot (Gloucestershire) Regiment, whose
colonel in 1734 was Philip Bragg.
30 Burlington Bertie (…from Bow) - popular music hall song
33 All the feathers - from cockney: "firty-free fousand fevvers on a
frush's froat."; Sherwood Forest - "all the trees"
39 All the steps/Those famous steps - book and film, "The Thirty-nine
Steps", about wartime spies in the UK.
49 PC=Police Constable - PC49: name of a post-war BBC radio series
50 Snow White's number - "five-oh, five-oh" - a mutation of "Hi-Ho,
Hi-Ho".
56 Was she worth it? - 5/6d - rate for the services of a Pompey whore
(Portsmouth lady of the night) during WWII.
59 Brighton line - some say train fare from London was 5/9d; others
say engine number of the first "Brighton Belle"
62 Six 'n' two - 6/2d - rail fare from Portsmouth (naval base) to
London during WWII
76 Trombones - "76 Trombones" music from the famous "The Music Man"
Broadway show.
76 Seven 'n' six - was she worth it? 7/6d. - the price of a marriage
licence during WWII (World War II).
80 Eight-nought = "Ate nought": Gandhi ate nought [nothing] for
breakfast - spiritual fasting.
Self-study Assignment: Read through the nickname list and try to
understand the significance of each nickname.
In the next session I will be answering questions about the cultural
aspects involved in these nicknames. Then we will have a Bingo
session! During play I will call out only a number's nickname - not
the number itself!. The first participant that shouts out the
corresponding number will be rewarded, for each correct answer, with a
20-word reduction in next week's self-study assignment - which will be
a 500-word essay on the theme, "The History of Bingo in Brazil".
EYES DOWN!!