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Housie Numbers
1.... First on the board Someones Favorite
2.... One little duck - Baby's done it
3.... One little flea - Monkey on the tree
4.... Knock at the door - Shut the door, thats no. 4
5....
6.... If in a fix strike no. 6
7.... Lucky seven - One hockey stick - A slice of heaven
8.... One fat lady
9.... Doctor's orders
10.. Downing street - A big fat hen
11.. Chicken legs - Skinny legs
12.. One dozen
13.. Unlucky for some
14.. Valentines day
15.. Young and keen
16.. Sweet sixteen
17.. Dancing queen
18.. Now you can vote - Coming of age
19.. Goodbye teens
20.. One score - Blind 20
21.. Royal salute
22.. Quack quack - Two little ducks - All the twos - Bishop Desmond
23.. A duck on a tree
24.. Two dozen - Did you score?
25.. Duck and dive
26.. Bed and breakfast (traditional price was 2 shillings 6 pence) - Half a crown (equivalent to 2 shillings 6 pence) Pick and mix
27.. Little duck with a crutch
28.. Duck & its mate
29.. Rise and shine
30.. Blind 30 - Your face is dirty
31.. Get up and run
32.. Buckle my Shoe
33.. Dirty knees - All the threes - Gertie Lee - Two little fleas
34.. Ask for more
35.. Jump and jive
36.. Three dozen
37.. A flea in heaven
38.. Christmas cake
39.. Those famous steps - All the steps - Jack Benny
40.. Life begins at - Blind 40
41.. Time for fun
42..
43.. Down on your knees
44.. All the fours - Open two doors
45.. Halfway there
46.. Up to tricks
48.. Four dozen
49.. Rise and shine
50.. Bulls eye - Blind 50 - Half a century
52.. Weeks in a year - Pack of cards
53.. Stuck in the tree - The joker
54.. Clean the floor
55.. All the fives Hi-Fives - Bunch of fives

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60.. Blind 60 - Five dozen


66.. Clickety click - All the sixes
67.. Made in heaven - Argumentative number
68.. Saving grace
69.. The same both ways - Your place or mine? - Any way up - Either way up - Any way round - Meal for two - The
French connection - Yum yum - Happy meal (USA)
70.. Three score and ten - Blind 70 - Big O (USA)
71.. Bang on the drum - Lucky one
72.. A crutch and a duck - Six dozen - Par for the course (golf) - Lucky two
73.. Crutch with a flea - Queen B - Under the tree - Lucky three
74.. Candy store - Grandmamma of Bingo - Lucky four
75.. Strive and strive - Big Daddy - Granddaddy of Bingo - Lucky five
76.. Trombones - Seven 'n' six - was she worth it? - Lucky six
77.. Sunset strip - All the sevens - Two little crutches - The double hockey stick - Lucky seven
78.. Heavens gate - Lucky eight
79.. One more time - Lucky nine
80.. Gandhi's breakfast - Blind 80 - Eight and blank - There you go matey
81.. Fat lady and a little wee - Stop and run - Corner shot
82.. Fat lady with a duck - Straight on through
83.. Fat lady with a flea - Time for tea - Ethel's Ear
84.. Seven dozen
85.. Staying alive
86.. Between the sticks
87.. Fat lady with a crutch - Torquay in Devon
88.. Two fat ladies - Wobbly wobbly - All the eights
89.. Nearly there - All but one
90.. Top of the shop - Top of the house - Blind 90 - As far as we go - End of the line
Explanations of some nicknames:
1 Kelly's eye: In reference to the one-eyed Australian bushranger gangster Ned Kelly.
2 One little duck: The shape looks a bit like a swan.
3 One little flea: Looks a bit like a flea.
7 One little crutch: Looks like a crutch.
8 One fat lady: Resembles the two halves of a large lady.
9 Doctor's orders: A pill known as Number 9 was a laxative given out by army doctors in Britain. Apparently in the
second world war in Britain doctors wrote on sick notes a 9 pm curfew, thus if patients were found out of their
homes after that time they were violating their sick note. (Provided by a visitor)
The curfew story's not true. In the Great War, however, there was such a thing as a "number nine" pill, that was
freely prescribed for virtually everything. (Provided by another visitor)
10 Downing street: UK Prime Minister's address, 10 Downing Street.
12 Royal salute: As in, a 21-gun salute for a Royal birthday or other celebration.
13 Bakers Dozen: Bakers in olden times used to make one extra piece of bread/cookie etc to the dozen ordered by
a customer so they could do a taste test before it was sold to the customer, hence the phrase.
17 Dancing queen: From the Abba song of the same name. Over-ripe: Opposite of tender; 14 and 17 straddle 16
which is sweet!
23 Lord's My Shepherd: From Psalm 23.
26 Bed and breakfast: Traditionally the cost of a nights' lodgings was 2 shillings sixpence, or two and six.

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26 Half a crown: Equivalent to 2'6d. Or two and six.


39 The famous steps; all the steps: From the 1935 Hitchcock film
59 The Brighton Line: The London-Brighton service was no. 59.
65 Old age pension: 'Pension' age in the UK is at the age of 65.
76 Seven 'n' six - was she worth it?: The price of the marrige licence, seven shillings and six pence.
A marriage license may have been 7/6 (37.5p in new money) once upon a time, but 7/6 was more recently the cost
of a "short time" with a lady of negotiable affection.... (Provided by a visitor)
78 Heavens gate: it rhymes: heaven-seven, gate-eight.
80 Gandhi's breakfast: in reference to Ghandis famous peace protest, in which he abstained from food - Imagine
him sitting crosslegged with a big empty plate in front of him, looking from above. Another suggested explanation:
ate (8) nothing (0).
81 Corner shot: Generally used in Military clubs tambola aka housie in India; origin unknown.
83 Ethel's Ear: Fat lady beside ear-shaped three.

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