The similarities between football and bingo jargon

The jargon of bingo and football is, of course, very different, nevertheless, there are some considerable similarities.

Both games are stupendously popular and just about everybody knows their most popular phrases. Whether it’s playing a friendly game with your friends or playing for money both football and bingo are hugely popular worldwide, so much so they have developed their own etiquette and rules, variety of different tournaments as well as their own language and phrases. Now there may not be a great deal of similarities in their jargon here is handy guide of all the best phrases.

Bingo Terms
Many bingo terms have become so well known that they have managed to work themselves firmly into our colloquial language. Many use historical references and even rhyming slang from the mid-20^th century, when bingo really started to gain interest and popularity. Bingo terminology is generally witty, fun and entertaining, but more importantly bingo lingo is for those who want to stay on the ball and ahead of the game, whether you choose to play online, in a bingo hall or both.

Whether it is playing a friendly game with family on Christmas or a group of pensioners visiting the local bingo hall on a Saturday night all know their legs eleven from a garden gate. Legs eleven is called when the number 11 is up, as it resembles a pair of long legs and many audiences tend to accompany this with wolf whistles.

One bingo call that directly derives from Cockney rhyming slang is 88; Garden Gate. So we can see both football and bingo include in their jargon rhyming slang originating from East London. Rhyming slang originated as a covert language that authorities couldn’t understand but managed to work itself into both the bingo halls and the football grounds.

Football Jargon
Football jargon is popular worldwide, but particularly in the UK footy has its very own language. Every football fan and player has a dream of becoming a Champions League football player and lifting the silverware, winning players usually lift the trophy which is often a silver cup with two handles. However, before football teams can triumph, players need to first get into the squad and then be selected for the side and get it in back of the net, if they don’t then many fans will say what is he playing at? This means that the player needs to improve their game. The most common way to pick up a range of football jargon is to watch football on TV and obviously listen to the commentators. Another easy way to pick up the lingo is to attend a local football game.

Much of football’s familiar jargon has stood the test of time since it became a popular pastime.

There are now many versions of a game called football, with our friends in America accused of naming the most popular 11-a-side version as soccer. However, if we go back to the 19^th century, English schoolboys found nicknames often ending in ‘er’ for most things. So, as rugby football became ‘rugger’, association football became known as ‘assoccer’ and later ‘soccer’.

Nil, probably the most common score when the results are read out on a Saturday afternoon, is a short version of the Latin word nihil, meaning nothing.

Football’s equivalent of legs eleven could well be called nutmeg – the art of deliberately playing the ball between opponent’s legs. The Oxford English Dictionary states it is Victorian slang meaning ‘to be tricked or deceived, especially in a manner which makes the victim look foolish’.

In the world of Bingo, on the other hand, a nutmeg seed was traditionally carried in order to bring luck.

The similarities between football and bingo jargon