What do “DIY,” “CMIIW” and “EAK” mean? Well to an online bingo player it’s obvious that they mean “Do It Yourself,” “Correct Me If I’m Wrong” and “Eating At Keyboard.” Online bingo has been stirring up the nation with its addictive games, bingo bonuses, and special bingo promotions, now feel free to meet some new people with your very own chat component and a special language to go with it.
First it was AOL instant messenger who coined the infamous chat language for all who used the program using acronyms like “LOL” and “BRB,” meaning “Laugh Out Loud” and “Be Right Back.” Bingo has taken this acronym language to the next level with the help if its’ players clever terms put into three to five letter acronyms.
With every chat-based game or chat program there is of course a specific chat etiquette one must follow to meet a new friend or two. The game of bingo is no different, and even has its own list of bingo etiquette terms and conditions. According to Play Internet Bingo, some obvious etiquette to follow would be not using offensive words and treating everyone in the bingo chat room with respect. Kindergarten etiquette anyone? Surprisingly, many people still can’t follow that rule. There are other terms that players may not know of such as not impersonating other players in the bingo chat and welcoming the “newbies” or new players into the chat when prompted. All etiquette descriptions promote the making of new friends in online bingo chat rooms.
There are many different ways to say things in bingo language. If you’re leaving for a minute or two one could say the usual “BRB” for “Be Right Back” or the new online bingo acronym “AFK” or “Away From Keyboard.” Saying “hello” and “goodbye” are different as well. For “hello” use “GD” or “Good Day.” “See you later” can be put using “TTFN,” meaning “Ta Ta For Now.” One might say the beauty of this online bingo chat language is the simplicity and a lazy person’s ease at making conversation.
Using bingo chat language is a quick way to say things without typing them out. But proceed with caution, putting a letter or two in the wrong spot could make your online bingo buddy say “GR,” or “Good Riddance” with a click of the mouse.
One would think that bingo has been around forever, but in fact, it was only introduced to the United States in 1929. At the time, the game of bingo was known as “beano,” because players marked their cards with beans.
The game of bingo was first played at a county fair in Jacksonville, Georgia. It was a struggling traveling toy salesman from New York named Edwin Lowe who made the game famous. Lowe was early for a sales appointment in December, 1929, and decided to stop in on the county fair. It was late at night and only one tent remained open at the fair. That tent was the “beano” tent.
The pitchman in the crowded tent pulled small wooden disks from an old cigar box and then called the number out loud to those seated around him in a horseshoe fashion. The players eagerly checked their cards and placed a bean on the appropriate numbers. This sequence continued until one of the players completed a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line on the card with beans. When a player shouted “Beano,” the card was checked and the winner received a kewpie doll.
“The pitchman wanted to close up, but every time he said, ‘This is the last game,’ nobody moved. When he finally closed at 3 AM, he had to chase them out,” said Lowe. “I couldn’t get a seat (to play). But while I was waiting around, I noticed that the players were practically addicted to the game.”
Based on the excitement shown by players at the fair, Lowe knew that there was something special to this new numbers game. Being in the toy business, he also realized that Americans wanted something to entertain them—an inexpensive activity to be played during the Depression era.
Lowe began hosting weekly games at his apartment in New York City. He designed the first game using dried beans, cardboard, and a rubber number stamp. He invited friends over to the play the game and saw the same excitement that he experienced in the south. During one game at his apartment, one woman excitedly got tongue-tied when she won and instead of shouting “beano,” she shouted “bingo!”
“All I could think of was that I was going to come out with this game and it was going to be called Bingo,” said Lowe. The initial Bingo game retailed for $1.00 and had twelve different cards in it. There also was a larger edition of the game that sold for $2.00 that had 24 cards in it.
Unfortunately for Lowe, he was not able to trademark the name Bingo since it was already determined to be in the public domain. Hence, he immediately had a swarm of competitors.
Soon after, a Catholic priest in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania saw the opportunity to use bingo as a fundraising tool for his church. At the time, churches were struggling for donations as the economy was at an all-time low. The priest bought several of the $2.00 versions of the game, but with the large crowds playing in the church, he found that there were several winners per game that had to share the winnings. The priest approached Lowe about the possibility of offering more numerical combinations for the cards.
Lowe, together with Carl Leffler, a mathematician from Columbia University, worked to expand the new game of bingo. Leffler helped increase the number of cards available to players by creating more bingo card number combinations. By 1930, there were over 6000 different bingo card combinations and the game was beginning to catch on in a big way.
By 1934, over 10,000 locations in the United States were sponsoring weekly bingo games. Lowe’s once struggling company had over 1000 employees. His company was said to be using more newsprint than the New York Times!
Bingo has become an American staple, just like baseball and apple pie. And, it’s all thanks to a once struggling toy salesman from New York who, by chance, walked in on a beano game in Georgia.
