Chat Room Bingo Lingo

Gone are the days where, in order to play bingo, you had to travel to a dark smoky hall in the middle of town inhabited by the lavender rinse brigade puffing out more second hand smoke than the Flying Scotsman. It’s a completely different game now.

Recent polls of UK players revealed that over 3.5 million people play online bingo, generating hundreds of millions of pounds each year. Over 90% of these players are under 50 too, with over 50% of players signing on daily and more than 40% having been playing for an average of five years. What isn’t surprising though is that it’s estimated that 12% of women play bingo as opposed to only around 5% of men. The sharp rise in participation is probably down to how easily accessible the internet is now. You can be sitting with your cornflakes or a brew, iPad in hand.

The emergence of online bingo, with players well within their sell-by-date have produced a new type of text talk called ‘Bingo Lingo’. This online language is quite similar to the ‘txt speak’ you’ve probably been trying to get your head around since its emergence in the 90’s but with a few subtle add-ons to suit the bingo world. Each bingo room has a chat box so all of the participants can chat and congratulate each other on a line, or a full house using their ‘Bingo Lingo’.

Should you wish to join in with the masses and have a go at online bingo we’ve decoded some of the more popular ‘Bingo Lingo’ used:

GL – Good Luck

WTG – Way to go

BRB – Be right back

TY – Thank you

Lol – Laughing out loud (or lots of love if you’re my mum)

3tg – Three to go

2tg – Two to go

1tg – One to go

GL, you have a WTG until you’re as gd as me lol