Bingo calls too offensive
Mr. Sayers, 75, who regularly calls the numbers at charity bingo games has been asked not to say “two fat ladies 88” and “legs 11” because council officials fear players might take offence and sue.
Mr. Sayers is a member of Sudbury Town Council and a former town mayor. He said a council clerk suggested it would be wise to remove traditional comic calls in case the authority was held liable for offensive sayings. He said, “The concern was that if there might be two large ladies in the audience when I said ‘two fat ladies 88’ or someone might think I was looking at their legs when I said ‘legs 11’. I was advised that someone might take offence and we could end up being taken to court.”
He added, “No one had ever complained about being offended. But they moan now, they say it’s boring. And I think just saying the numbers is boring, too. I’m obviously not being offensive – just having a bit of fun. It’s the tradition of the game and part of our language.”
Two fat ladies and legs 11 are just a few of the popular bingo sayings that are commonly used in clubs all over the country.
A spokeswoman for Sudbury Council told the East Anglian Daily Times, “In particular with John being a councilman, we have to be politically correct.”