ENGLISH
REFERENCE

bingo card

n.

n. A list of things you predict will happen or see in a specific situation, often made for fun. The phrase comes from the game of bingo, where you mark numbers on a card as they are called out.

n. Literally, a card with a grid of numbers for playing the game of bingo; more commonly, an informal, metaphorical list of predicted or clichéd events for a specific context.


SIMPLE

My meeting bingo card has 'let's circle back' in the middle.

CONTEXTUAL

Journalists shared their 'keynote bingo card' of expected product reveals and corporate buzzwords before the big announcement.

COMPLEX

The critic's review read less like a serious analysis and more like a completed bingo card of cinematic tropes, from the predictable plot twist to the clichéd final monologue.

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