Bingo lingo dropped for legal reasons

Bingo slang canned

A row has erupted over the use of bingo slang after a bingo caller was told he could get sued.

John Sayers, who is also a member of Sudbury town council, was warned by council officials that phrases such as 'legs 11' and 'two fat ladies 88' could offend certain players, reports the East Anglia Daily Times.

And it was feared that politically incorrect bingo calls could pave the way for legal action, even though they have been used in bingo clubs across the country for decades.

And while Mr Sayers reluctantly followed the edict, he described the whole dispute as "nonsense".

"I was disappointed but I took good advice," he explained. "I did not want to bring the town hall and myself into disrepute."

Legal concerns for bingo lingo

Sue Brotherwood, clerk of Sudbury town council, took the decision to rein back Mr Sayers.

After reading about another bingo caller being sued in the paper, she became concerned that the council could be leaving itself open to legal action.

"People sometimes take these things personally," she said. "The last thing we want is for John to be sued because he said 'two fat ladies 88' and there just so happened to be two fat ladies there."

At Buckingham Bingo clubs, bingo lingo has been consigned to the history books � modern callers simply read out numbers from the machine.

This has the dual advantage of speeding up games and levelling the playing field for newcomers who are unfamiliar with the jargon.

Bingo lingo dropped for legal reasons

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