Un-PC Bingo Calls Banned!
18th January, 2010
Everyone keeps hearing the same old phrase ‘it’s political correctness gone mad!’ but this time it really has! A bingo hall in Suffolk has had to ban the use of popular bingo calls such as ‘two fat ladies’ and ‘legs eleven’ as it has been deemed too offensive. Sudbury Town council has said that bingo caller and fellow councilor John Sayers is not allowed to use such terms in future.
Any keen bingo player knows that ‘two fat ladies’ actually means the number 88, likewise ‘legs11’ means the number 11 has been pulled out, it is not supposed to be offensive in anyway.
Mr. Sayers explained, “I was disappointed but I took good advice. I did not want to bring the town hall and myself into disrepute. There is a chance if you said two fat ladies and there was a bingo call and you look across the hall and saw two fat ladies they could take it personally. In my personal opinion it seems a bit of nonsense and it takes to a certain extent, a lot of fun out of it.”
The interesting thing is, banning such politically incorrect phrases has had an opposite effect on the crowd who have found the bingo experience more boring without the phrases and have now congregated at a different bingo hall in nearby Great Conrad.
Sudbury Town Council’s clerk, Sue Brotherwood made the decision when she read in newspapers that a bingo caller was sued for using the politically incorrect terms.
Sue Brotherwood commented, “In particular with John being a councilor we have to be politically correct. 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. It is very sad because it is part of the fun of bingo but unfortunately in today’s society people take it literally.”
By Carol
