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Different Definitions for the Word Bingo
Written by Jon Jackson   
Thursday, 18 March 2010 09:03
There are many different uses of the word "bingo". Most of us will be familiar with at least one of them, but it's surprising how many other different meanings the word has. We won't be providing a comprehensive overview of all the words in this article, but we've chosen 6 common uses of the word to write about.
by JonJackson


There are many different uses of the word "bingo". Most of us will be familiar with at least one of them, but it's surprising how many other different meanings the word has. We won't be providing a comprehensive overview of all the words in this article, but we've chosen 6 common uses of the word to write about.

Bingo is obviously a game that is played in bingo halls and online by many people. The game is a type of lottery, where each player initially chooses a game card with 15 random numbers from 1 to 75 or 1 to 90 written on the card.

The numbers are then drawn in a random order (electronically when playing online, or through a mechanical "ball-picker" when playing in a bingo hall), and the player marks off the corresponding numbers on their card. Once all the numbers on the card have been marked off, the player has won and stops the game by calling "house".

There's also a card game called bingo. Each player receives a set of cards, with some other cards dealt face down on the table. The face down cards are then turned over one at a time, with each player adding the value of their own cards to the value of the cards as they are turned over. The game features a round of betting before each turn of the card, with each player deciding if their total will be higher or lower than the other players'.

There's the famous children's song about Bingo the Dog. The song is essentially just one verse, with claps replacing the letters in Bingo's name in various places throughout the song. The verse is:

There was a farmer had a dog And Bingo was his name-oh! B-I-N-G-O! B-I-N-G-O! B-I-N-G-O! And Bingo was his name-oh!

There's also a song called Bingo by the British group, Catch. The song was released in the mid-late 90s, and is about a teenage boy who wants to see what all the fuss is about in the local red light district in town. By the end of the song, the boy has found out what the ladies are there for, but has also lost 100 when he bought a drink.

There's also an American comedy film from 1991 with the title Bingo. The film is about a dog, so was possibly inspired by the children's song mentioned above. The plot is essentially that Bingo is a circus dog who runs away and befriends a young boy, and their various adventures bring them together at the end of the film.

Bingo is the name of a town in Burkina Faso, a country in West Africa. Burkina has no coastline, but borders 6 other African countries - Benin, Togo, Niger, Mali Ghana and the Ivory Coast. Burkina Faso used to be known as The Republic of Upper Volta until it changed its name in 1984.

About the Author:

Jon Jackson is a specialist in online bingo, with many years experience of owning and operating internet bingo sites in the UK.