bingo

See also: Bingo

English

WOTD – 7 June 2008

English Wikipedia has an article on:

bingo

Wikipedia

Etymology 1

Alternative form of bing, suggesting a ringing sound. Attested since 1925.

Alternative forms

Bingo

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbɪŋ.ɡəʊ/
(US) IPA^(key): /ˈbɪŋ.ɡoʊ/
Audio (US): (file)
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Rhymes: -ɪŋɡəʊ

Noun

bingo (countable and uncountable, plural bingos)

(uncountable) A game of chance for two or more players, who mark off numbers on a grid as they are announced by the caller; the game is won by the first person to call out "bingo!" or "house!" after crossing off all numbers on the grid or in one line of the grid.
(uncountable) A similar game or amusement in which participants tick off themed words, phrases or pictures as these are called out, or as they are mentioned, for example during a speech or performance:
animal bingo (animal pictures), ABBA bingo (titles or lyrics of ABBA songs), buzzword bingo
(countable) A win in such a game.
There were two bingos in the last game, so the players split the prize money.
(countable, Scrabble, US) A play where all seven of a player's letter tiles are played, awarding a score bonus.
Great, sudden, typically hard-to-predict success; the jackpot.
- 1986 April 19, Loie Hayes, Donna Deitch, “Leapin' Lesbians!”, in Gay Community News, page 8:
  An explosion of gay male movies has hit the U.S. in the past few months. Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Parting Glances and My Beautiful Laundrette, among others, have not only demonstrateed that the coming out story can be surpassed, they've also shown the movie industry that substantive gay portrayals can mean box office bingo.

Synonyms

(game of chance): housey-housey, lotto

Derived terms

Descendants

→ Polish: bingo

Translations

game of chance

Afrikaans: bingo
Armenian: բինգո (hy) (bingo)
Belarusian: бі́нга n (bínha)
Bulgarian: би́нго n (bíngo)
Catalan: bingo (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 賓果 / 宾果 (bīnguǒ), 賓果遊戲 / 宾果游戏 (bīnguǒ yóuxì)
Czech: bingo n
Danish: bingospil
Dutch: bingo (nl) n
Esperanto: bingo (eo)
Finnish: bingo (fi)
French: bingo (fr) m
Georgian: ბინგო (bingo)
German: Bingo (de) n
Greenlandic: bingo
Italian: bingo (it) m
Japanese: ビンゴ (ja) (bingo)
Korean: 빙고 (binggo)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: دمبەڵە (dimbelle)
Lao: please add this translation if you can
Maori: wharewhare
Navajo: naaʼołí naalzhood
Persian: بینگو (bingo)
Polish: bingo (pl) n
Portuguese: bingo (pt) m
Russian: би́нго (ru) n (bíngo)
Spanish: bingo (es) m
Swedish: bingo (sv) c
Tagalog: binggo
Turkish: tombala (tr), kazı-kazan, bingo
Ukrainian: бі́нґо n (bíngo)

win

Finnish: bingo (fi)
Polish: bingo (pl) n
Turkish: tombala (tr)

scrabble play

Finnish: ritirati sana peli
French: scrabble (fr) m

Interjection

bingo

Used by players of bingo to claim a win.
(informal) Used when finding what one has been looking for or trying to recall, or on successful completion of a task.
- 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 31:
  ‘Some big, hard-boiled egg meets up with a pretty face, and bingo! He cracks up and melts.’
- 2009 February 28, Megan Ogilvie, “Flex your plan for healthier eating”, in Toronto Star‎^[1]:
  Just have to pick the bfast, lunch and dinner I feel most like eating today and – bingo!
- 2011 February 25, Alan Schoolcraft, Brent Simons, 7:35 from the start, in Simon J. Smith, director, Megamind: The Button of Doom (DVD/Blu-ray), Paramount Pictures:
  Megamind: Boingo!
  Minion: I think you mean "bingo", sir.
  Megamind: That's what I said. Boingo!
(informal) Used to enthusiastically confirm or validate another speaker's point.

Synonyms

(used in bingo to claim a win): house!
(when finding something): aha!, eureka!, got it!, that's it!, yes!

Translations

to claim a win in bingo

Afrikaans: bingo
Dutch: bingo (nl)
Finnish: bingo (fi)
Italian: tombola (it)
Navajo: oozbą́
Norwegian: bingo
Polish: bingo (pl)
Russian: би́нго (ru) (bíngo)
Turkish: tombala (tr)

when finding something

Afrikaans: bingo
Catalan: premi! (ca)
Dutch: bingo (nl)
Finnish: bingo (fi), napakymppi (fi)
French: ça y est (fr)
German: Volltreffer (de) m
Japanese: 大当たり (ōatari), 大正解 (daiseikai)
Polish: bingo (pl), proszę bardzo
Russian: би́нго (ru) (bíngo), нашёл! (ru) m (našól!), нашла́! (ru) f (našlá!)
Swedish: bingo (sv)
Turkish: bingo

An exclamation

Maori: anā ia
Polish: bingo (pl)
Russian: точно (ru) (točno), именно (ru) (imenno), именно так (imenno tak)
Swedish: precis (sv), just det

Adjective

bingo (not comparable)

(US, aviation slang, chiefly military, primarily of fuel) Just sufficient to return to base (or, alternatively, to divert to an alternative airfield). (also written Bingo or BINGO)
- 1993, Red River Valley Fighter Pilots, page 40:
  Well, the old pucker factor went up about 75 notches at that point cause that length of time would put my wingman below Bingo fuel, plus the thought of sitting in an orbit several miles West of the Yen Bai […]
- 2012, Larry R Gibson, Recollections of a Marine Attack Pilot, page 54:
  The first pilot to get down to this bingo fuel state would call, “Banjo 4, bingo fuel,” or whatever.

Verb

bingo (third-person singular simple present bingos, present participle bingoing, simple past and past participle bingoed)

(intransitive) To play the game of bingo.
(intransitive) To give the winning cry of "bingo!" in a game.
(intransitive) To play all of one's seven tiles in one move in the game of Scrabble, earning a score bonus.
- 2009, Joe Edley, John Williams, Everything Scrabble: Third Edition, page 333:
  With IN on the board, he bingoed with OPERATING for 74 points, while Ann added the CO in front of it for 30 points.
(intransitive, US, aviation slang, chiefly military) To return to base.

Etymology 2

Perhaps related to stingo.

Noun

bingo (uncountable)

(slang, obsolete) Brandy.

References

John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary

Anagrams

Gobin, bigon, bog in, boing

Dutch