The meaning of the 90 bingo numbers

The 90 numbers of the bingo drum have his name. Can you identify them all? In this article we review the 90 nicknames and some curiosities, although before we challenge you to try to get them on your own.

Brian Dekker betting expert

Updated: 25/02/2020

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From 1 to 90, every time we play bingo and one of our balls comes out of the drum, we associate a phrase or a saying with the number. The pretty girl will always be 15, 22 are the two ducks, 90 will be grandfather, 13 or 69 almost don't need an explanation... It's something that comes from the extensive popular culture we have in this country, where bingo was a very popular game in homes for decades, and has survived over time in our imagination.

It is clear that bingo has evolved a lot since then, and home bingo has been joined by physical halls or online bingo rooms. In the latter, it is not so common for the name of the called number to be sung after it is drawn, but surely more than one player repeats it to themselves. The opposite is true in physical halls, where to add even more excitement to the game, the nickname of the number is sung and then the number itself.

Is there any logic behind the number that is sung and the nickname it receives? Yes and no. Some like 33, the Age of Christ; 22, two little ducks or 25, Christmas, have their logic. But the fact that 87 is lice, 48 is lamb or 28 is Alicante has an explanation that seems difficult to find beyond tradition today. Not to mention the geographical differences, since just like with coffee, the same number can have different names depending on where in Philippines you play bingo.

One of the most obvious examples is that of the drums from Soria, a number that is known as pumpkins in the rest of Philippines. We are talking about the number 88. Another curious fact about bingo is that certain numbers are accompanied by a tagline. We are not referring to the easy rhyme of 5 and all numbers ending in 5, but to the tradition of shouting "one!" every time the number 21 comes up, also known as the woman.

Everyone has their superstitions, favorite numbers, and quirks when playing bingo, whether it's physical or online, and it's very difficult to get rid of them. Below we will see the 90 nicknames we introduce into the bingo drum, but first, we propose a challenge: how many can you guess? We've already seen a few, but... can you name all 90?

meaning of bingo numbers

1. The gallant or the small one
2. The little duck. Doesn't 2 look like a duck? It is also known as the sun.
3. San Como
4. The bed. If they ask "how many legs does the bed have?" we have to cross out the 4 on the cardboard.
5. The cat or the thorn
6. The dog or the heart
7. The revolver, the pipe, the muleta... their similarity to weapons is undeniable, and the lucky number seven has many nicknames.
8. Incendio, the lady or, if we are politically incorrect, the fat lady due to the curves of the number 8.
9. The shoe, stream. After singing the number, we can hear the phrase "lift the donkey's tail and drink".
10. The rose, for the bouquet of 10 roses that lovers would send to their beloved before the era of Whatsapp.
11. The banderillas, although it can also be the miner or the two little soldiers.
12. Soldier
13. La mala pata, a number that brings bad luck and can be accompanied by the phrase "neither get married nor embark" (even if you don't play on a Tuesday).
14. Drunk, beer
15. The pretty girl: at 15 years old, girls left behind childhood and become women.
16. The ring, the guitar
17. Disgrace, sailboat. In England, seventeen rhymes with Abba's Dancing Queen.
18. Blood, eyes, bouquet
19. San José or El Correo para Cuba: on the 19th of each month, a ship carrying mail departed from the Canary Islands to Cuba.
20. The party, the cheese uncle
21. The woman, the spring. Don't forget to shout "one!" every time she comes out of the drum.
22. The two ducks. If "the two ducks are in the lake", you already know what number has been rolled.
23. Chef, the melon
24. Caballo, Christmas Eve
25. Christmas
26. The mass, the chickens
27. The comb, the bowtie or the birdcage
28. El Cerro, Alicante
29. San Pedro, the journey
30. Santa Rosa, the lion
31. The light, the horses
32. Money. Have we come to get it, right?
33. The age of Christ when he was crucified.
34. The head or the club
35. Little bird or fire
36. Chestnut or Blood
37. Eucalyptus, the sword, the stab
38. Stones or the dog
39. Rain or the bull
40. The priest
41. The Knife. In a way, its silhouette reminds Philippines of a person holding a knife or a blade weapon.
42. Trainers
43. Balcony, the crown
44. The jail, the high heels. Also known as cuacaraca-cuacara.
45. The wine
46. Tomatoes, the hat
47. The deceased
48. The sheep. There are places where it is known as the black one or as the speaking dead.
49. The meat
50. Bread
51. Saw
52. Mother and son
53. The boat
54. The cow
55. Civilians, in homage to the Civil Guard and the two tricorns that this figure suggests.
56. The fall
57. The hunchback
58. Drowned
59. Plants
60. The virgin
61. Shotgun
62. Flood
63. Wedding
64. Tears
65. The hunter
66. Lombriz
67. Bite
68. Nephews
69. Vices. Obviously, the answer to the 69 nickname lies in the Kamasutra.
70. Dead, dream
71. The teacher, excrement
72. Surprise
73. Hospital
74. Black people, the staircase
75. Besos. In countries where there are only 75 numbers in the drum, it is also known as end of game.
76. The flames
77. The two flags, which in some parts of Philippines become the two Italian flags.
78. Ramera
79. Thief
80. The ball
81. The flowers
82. The fight, the jar
83. Bad weather
84. The church
85. Flashlight
86. The smoke
87. Piojos
88. Pumpkins, the drums of Soria... or the fat ones (go back to 8 to find out why).
89. The rat, the shrimp
90. The grandfather, the last number in bingo - and therefore the highest. It can also be the end of the game.