American mahjong glossary

Bam: A tile from the bamboo suit, numbered 1 to 9. The 1 bam is usually drawn as a bird.
Big Card, The: An alternative yearly card of American hands published by The Mahjong Line. Not interchangeable with the League card.
Blank: A plain spare tile. Not used in the standard game, but it can replace a lost tile or become a joker with a sticker.
Blind pass: On the last pass of each Charleston, passing on tiles you just received without looking at them.
Breaking the wall: East rolls the dice and counts that many stacks along their own wall to choose where dealing starts.
Calling: Claiming the latest discard, out of turn if needed, to complete a group or to win.
Card: The yearly list of winning hands published by the National Mah Jongg League.
Charleston: The series of tile swaps after the deal and before the first discard.
Concealed hand: A hand marked C on the card. It must be completed entirely on your rack; only the winning tile may be called.
Consecutive run: A section of the card built on numbers in a row, such as 1-2-3 or 5-6-7.
Courtesy pass: An optional swap of 0 to 3 tiles with the player across, after the Charleston.
Crak: A tile from the character suit, marked with a Chinese numeral and 萬.
Dead hand: A hand that can no longer win, usually after a wrong exposure or a false Mah Jongg. Another player calls it dead; the player stops picking and discarding and still pays the winner.
Discard: The tile you put face up in the middle at the end of your turn, naming it out loud.
Dot: A tile from the circle suit. Also called a circle or ball.
Dragon: One of the red, green or white honor tiles. Each matches a suit: red with craks, green with bams, white with dots.
East: The dealer, who starts with 14 tiles and discards first.
Exposed hand: A hand marked X on the card, which may include exposures.
Exposure: A group of tiles laid face up on your rack after calling a discard. Once made, it cannot be changed.
Flower: One of 8 tiles that all count as the same tile in American mahjong. Season tiles count as flowers too.
Guided play: Practice games with a teacher on hand to help.
Hand: Your tiles: 13 during play, 14 when you win.
Hot tile: A tile likely to give another player Mah Jongg if you discard it.
Joker: A tile that can stand in for any tile in a group of three or more identical tiles, never in a pair or as a single.
Joker exchange: On your turn, swapping a matching tile from your rack for a joker in any exposure. Also called redeeming a joker.
Jokerless: A winning hand with no jokers. It doubles the payment, except for singles-and-pairs hands.
Kong: A group of four identical tiles.
Like numbers: A section of the card built on the same number in different suits.
Mah Jongg: What you call when you complete a hand from the card and win. Also the League's spelling of the game's name.
Mahj: A common nickname for the game.
NEWS: North, East, West and South: one of each wind.
NMJL: The National Mah Jongg League, founded in 1937, which publishes the yearly card and the American rules.
Open play: Drop-in tables for players who already know the game.
Pair: Two identical tiles. Jokers cannot be used in a pair.
Pung: A group of three identical tiles.
Pusher: The arm attached to a rack, used to push your wall forward.
Quint: A group of five identical tiles. Needs jokers, except a quint of flowers.
Rack: The stand that holds your tiles out of sight of other players, with a ledge for exposures.
Self-pick: Winning by drawing your final tile from the wall yourself. Everyone pays double.
Sextet: A group of six identical tiles. Needs jokers, except a sextet of flowers.
Siamese mahjong: A separate two-player game with its own rules and card.
Singles and pairs: A section of the card made only of single tiles and pairs. Jokers can never be used in it.
Soap: The white dragon. It can also stand for a zero in year hands.
Wall: The rows of face-down tiles that players draw from: 19 stacks, two high, per player.
Wall game: A game where the wall runs out before anyone wins. Nobody pays.
Wind: One of the North, East, West or South tiles. There are 16 in a set.
Year hand: A hand on the card built from the digits of the year, with the soap standing in for zero.

Common questions

What is a pung in mahjong?

Three identical tiles. A kong is four, a quint is five and a sextet is six. Because there are only four of each suit tile, quints and sextets need jokers, unless they are made of flowers.

What does soap mean in mahjong?

Soap is the white dragon. It goes with the dots suit and is also used as a zero in year hands.

What is NEWS in mahjong?

North, East, West and South: one of each wind, written as NEWS on the card.

What is an exposure?

A group of tiles you have called from a discard and laid face up on your rack, so everyone can see it.

What is a hot tile?

A tile that is likely to give another player Mah Jongg if you discard it, judging from their exposures.

What is a dead hand?

A hand that can no longer win, for example because its exposures do not match any hand on the card. Another player has to call it dead. The player then stops picking and discarding, and still pays the winner.