This is an editorial guide provided for information only. Bingo calls are folklore rather than official rules — halls and sites vary in which nicknames they use, and several numbers have more than one traditional call.
Funny Bingo Calls and Modern Nicknames
Bingo lingo has never stood still. Alongside the traditional list, halls and sites keep inventing new calls — pop-culture gags, local jokes and crowd-pleasers — and the funniest part was never the rhyme itself but the response: the room quacking at Two Little Ducks is the whole point.
The call-and-response classics
The best-loved calls come with a script. Two Little Ducks (22) gets “quack quack!”; Two Fat Ladies (88) gets “wobble wobble”; PC (49) — from a 1940s radio constable — earns a solemn “evening all”; and Here Comes Herbie (53), after Disney’s racing Beetle, is answered with “beep beep!”. In a good hall, the caller barely finishes before the room replies.
The famous 2003 revamp
Bingo’s most reported modernisation came when Butlins refreshed its calling sheet in 2003 with the help of a professor of popular culture — giving the world Gareth Gates (8), Ali G (30) and the immortal J-Lo’s Bum (71). Some stuck, some didn’t, but the idea did: venues have been topping up the lingo with the celebrities of the day ever since.
Modern favourites
Newer sheets lean on music and telly: Dancing Queen (17) after ABBA, Little Mix (6) for the rhyme, Staying Alive (85) via the Bee Gees, and endless local one-offs — sites have even run competitions inviting players to christen numbers themselves. The only rule is the original one: it has to be instantly understood across a noisy room.
Why the lingo keeps changing
Some traditional calls now feel dated, and the industry periodically debates retiring or updating them — part of why modern alternatives keep arriving. The tradition survives precisely because it adapts: every generation gets its own numbers, and the ducks keep quacking through all of it.
Frequently asked questions
What are the funniest bingo calls?
Crowd favourites include Two Fat Ladies (88) with its “wobble wobble” response, Here Comes Herbie (53) and Butlins’ J-Lo’s Bum (71).
Who invented the modern bingo calls?
Many venues coin their own, but the most famous refresh was Butlins’ 2003 update devised with a professor of popular culture.
Can a hall make up its own calls?
Absolutely — calls are tradition rather than rules, and local in-jokes are half the culture.
What do you shout for Two Little Ducks?
“Quack quack!” — the most beloved response in bingo.
Related guides: the full 1–90 bingo calls list, what a false call is and bingo slots online.