Every word that's specific to American Mah Jongg, organized by where you'll hear it. Skim it before your first game night. Bring it to the table if you want. Nobody minds.
You watched All's Fair in Love & Mahjong on Hallmark. The actresses said things in a confident clip and nobody paused to explain. So here it is. Every word that's specific to American Mah Jongg, organized by where you'll hear it.
Short for bamboo. One of the three suits, numbered 1 through 9, marked with bamboo stalks on the tile face. The 1 Bam is famously a bird, often a sparrow or a peacock.
You'll hear it as: "Four bam." Called by a player as she discards the tile face up. The number always comes before the suit.
An unmarked tile, included with most American Mah Jongg sets as a replacement piece. If a tile is ever lost from the set, the owner can mark a blank to stand in for it, sparing the cost of buying a whole new set. Blanks are also sometimes brought into social play as a bonus tile, used to recover a tile that was lost to the discard pile in a previous round. Whether to play with blanks is a matter of house rules. Many tables do not allow them. Others find them a kindness, especially in social or learning games. Blanks are not part of the 152-tile count of a standard playing set.
When blanks are played, the typical house rule is to add either two or four. They are added to the end of a player's wall, turning a normal wall of 19 stacks into a wall of 20. With two blanks, one player has the longer wall. With four, two players do. A blank can never be used to claim a Joker. The Joker exchange requires a real tile in hand.
Short for character. The second suit, numbered 1 through 9, marked with a number and a small Chinese character.
You'll hear it as: "Seven crak." Called only when the tile is being discarded.
The third suit. Numbered 1 through 9, marked with circles. Sometimes called Circles.
You'll hear it as: "Two dot." Called only when the tile is being discarded.
Three families of tiles: the Green Dragon, the Red Dragon, and the White Dragon (more commonly called Soap at American tables). One Dragon family pairs with each numbered suit on the card. Four of each family in the set, twelve Dragons total.
One of the three Dragon tiles. The green-marked Dragon, paired with the Bam suit on most NMJL cards. Four in a standard American set.
One of the three Dragon tiles. The red-marked Dragon, paired with the Crak suit on most NMJL cards. Four in a standard American set.
The third of the three Dragon tiles, paired with the Dot suit on most NMJL cards. Called Soap at almost every American table. Printed as a stylized zero or sometimes left blank. Four in a standard American set.
A specially illustrated tile, often painted with flowers or seasons. Eight Flowers in an American set. They appear in specific hands on the card.
Umbrella term for any tile that is not part of the three numbered suits. The Winds and the Dragons are honor tiles.
The wild tile. A Joker can stand in for any tile inside a group of three or more identical tiles (a Pung, Kong, Quint, or Sextet). It cannot be used in a pair, in a single, or in a run (a group of different tiles, like a 1-2-3-4-5 sequence). The rule players say at the table: never in pairs, never in singles, never in runs. There are eight Jokers in an American set, which is one of the things that makes American Mah Jongg American.
You'll hear it as: "She just discarded a joker, and I needed that. Can't touch it now, it's dead." A discarded joker cannot be called by another player. The tile is lost to the round.
The American nickname for the White Dragon, which is printed as a stylized zero or sometimes left blank. Called Soap because it looks like a bar of soap on edge. On most NMJL cards, Soap functions as both the Dragon for the Dot suit and as a zero in year hands.
A family of numbered tiles, 1 through 9. American Mah Jongg has three suits: Bams, Craks, and Dots.
A single playing piece. American sets have 152 tiles total: 108 numbered tiles, 16 Winds, 12 Dragons, 8 Flowers, and 8 Jokers.
Four tiles labeled N, E, W, and S, for the four directions. Four of each in the set, sixteen Winds total. American tiles use Roman letters only.
You'll hear it as: "East." Called when discarding. The direction stands alone, no number.
A fifth person at a four-player table who sits out the hand and bets on which player will win. The Bettor wins or loses with the player she bet on. NMJL has formal rules for Bettor play.
The annual hand list published by the National Mah Jongg League. It lists every winning combination of tiles you can build this year, organized into sections. The card expires when next year's card is published. Without the card, American Mah Jongg cannot be played.
You'll hear it as: "Did you get this year's card?"
The dealer's seat. The dealer is called East regardless of where she actually sits in your living room. The role rotates with each hand.
National Mah Jongg League. The organization that publishes the original card and sets the rules for American Mah Jongg. Founded in New York in 1937. Alternative cards exist from third-party publishers, but the NMJL card remains the standard.
You'll hear it as: "It's an NMJL hand."
The plastic arms (sometimes called pusher arms) used to slide each player's wall toward the center of the table. Most American Mah Jongg sets include four.
The long tray that holds your tiles facing you. Has a back ledge for tiles in your hand and a front ledge for tiles you have exposed.
The four lines of stacked tiles built at the start of each hand. Players draw from the wall in turn.
The player seated directly opposite you, and also the second tile pass in each Charleston (the pass that goes across the table).
A pass that includes one or two tiles you have not looked at, taken from the tiles just handed to you. Allowed only on the third pass of the First Charleston (Left) and the third pass of the Second Charleston (Right).
The opening tile exchange. Before the game starts, every player passes three tiles to the right, three across, three to the left. After that, players vote on whether to do a Second Charleston: three left, three across, three right. Then a Courtesy pass between partners. The Charleston is how a hand goes from random to playable.
You'll hear it as: "Are we doing the Second Charleston?"
The final exchange of the Charleston, between players sitting across from each other. Up to three tiles are exchanged, by mutual agreement between the two players involved. Only you and your across partner need to agree on the number. The other across pair at the table works independently and may settle on a different number, or pass none at all.
The first round of three passes. Right, then Across, then Left. The Left pass may include blind tiles.
The optional second round, performed only if all four players agree. Left, then Across, then Right. The Right pass may include blind tiles.
To claim a tile that another player just discarded, in order to complete a Pung, Kong, Quint, or Sextet, or to declare Mah Jongg. You must call before the next player draws.
Hidden in your rack. A concealed group is one that has not been exposed.
A tile you place face up in the center of the table after your turn. Discards are gone from your rack. They become available for the next player to call, or to no one if no one calls.
To lay down tiles face up on your rack, so the table can see them. You expose when you call a tile.
Tiles that have been laid face up on your rack. Once exposed, they cannot be moved back into your hand.
A swap. If a player has an exposed Joker on her rack, any other player, on her own turn, who holds the actual tile the Joker stands in for may request to swap the real tile for the Joker. You do not reach across the table. You do not touch another player's tiles. You ask. The player holding the Joker cannot refuse the swap. It is a bit of a formality and a dance, and part of the ceremony. Sometimes called Joker redemption.
Four of a kind. Four identical tiles, used in hands on the card that call for a Kong.
Two of a kind. The smallest group on the card. Pairs cannot use Jokers.
To abandon the hand you're building and switch to a different one mid-game, usually because the tiles you've drawn or the tiles you've seen discarded make a different hand more reachable. Pivoting early in a hand is often smart. Pivoting late is risky because you've already given up tiles you can't get back.
You'll hear it as: "I had to pivot when she exposed that pung."
Three of a kind. The most common group on the card.
You'll hear it as: "Pung," said when a player calls a discarded tile to complete three of a kind.
Five of a kind. Quint hands do not appear on the card every year. They come and go from one year's edition to the next, depending on what the League chose to publish.
Winning by drawing your final tile from the wall on your own turn, rather than by calling someone else's discard. Sometimes called self-draw. The distinction matters most when the table is keeping score, since self-picks are typically rewarded with extra points.
Six of a kind. Rare, but real. Appears on certain hands on the card.
One tile. Singles cannot use Jokers.
The card is organized into sections, each with a theme. You don't need to memorize the sections to play, but you will hear them named.
A section of the card built from even-numbered tiles (2, 4, 6, 8).
A section built from odd-numbered tiles.
A section built from threes, sixes, and nines.
A section using sequential numbers (for example, 1-2-3-4-5).
A section using the same number across multiple suits (for example, all the 5s).
The section of the card that calls for hands containing five-of-a-kind groups.
A section where every group is either a single tile or a pair. No Pungs, Kongs, or Jokers. This section is known for its higher point values and concealed hands.
A hand built around the digits of the current year. The 2026 card has a year section using 2, 0, 2, 6.
A hand played all the way to Mah Jongg without ever exposing a tile. Most hands on the card pay double for concealed. Some hands on the card are designated concealed, marked at the end of the line with a C followed by the point value (for example, C – 50).
A hand that has been declared illegal or unwinnable, usually because of an exposure error or an incorrect call. A dead hand sits out the rest of the round. If you know your hand is dead, you do not have to claim it as such. You may begin full defensive play to prevent others from winning.
A Mah Jongg declared by a non-dealer on her own first draw from the wall, before any tile has been called or discarded. Extremely rare. Many house rules pay double for an Earthly Hand. Not an NMJL-official bonus.
A Mah Jongg declared by the dealer (East) using the original 14 tiles she was dealt, before any other play has happened. Rarer still. Talked about more than seen. Many house rules pay double or triple. Not an NMJL-official bonus.
Said by a player who is one tile away from winning. Used to alert the table to play defensively.
You'll hear it as: "I'm looking."
The winning call. When your tiles match a hand on the card, you say "Mah Jongg" and the hand ends. Pronounce it however the players at your table do.
You'll hear it as: "Mah Jongg!" Followed by quiet. Followed by everyone counting.
A hand played without using any Jokers. Many house rules pay a small bonus for a no-Joker win. Not an NMJL rule, but widely played.
When the wall runs out before anyone calls Mah Jongg. No one wins. Sometimes called a draw.
A term from the other versions of mahjong, worth knowing even though you will not use it here. A chow is a run of three consecutive tiles in the same suit, for example 4, 5, 6 Bam. In Chinese and most other mahjong, a player may take a discarded tile to complete one, claiming it from the player on her left.
American Mah Jongg has no chow. A discard can be claimed only to build a Pung, Kong, Quint, or Sextet, or to declare Mah Jongg, never to finish a run. Your hands can still hold runs of consecutive numbers (the Consecutive Run section of the card is built on them), but you gather those from the wall and your own tiles, not by calling for them.
A tile that no one seems to want, safe to discard. The opposite of hot.
A tile that someone almost certainly needs, dangerous to discard. Some teachers also use "hot wall" informally for the last few rows of the wall, when discards become risky.
Called by a player who wants to claim a discard before the next player draws. The next player must wait. If the call holds, play continues from the caller. If not, play resumes.
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