Terms
You'll hear a lot of new vocabulary at your first American Mahjong table. Here's what the most common terms actually mean — bookmark this page and check back whenever something in another guide isn't clear.
- The Card
- Short for the NMJL (National Mah Jongg League) card — the official list of valid hands and their point values, published every year. Most players keep a copy at the table.
- Charleston
- A set of passes at the start of the game, where you trade tiles with other players before anyone starts drawing and discarding. It's how you improve a weak starting hand.
- Joker
- A wild tile that can stand in for other tiles — though not on every hand on the card. There are 8 jokers in a standard set.
- Wall
- The stack of face-down tiles built at the start of the game. You and the other players draw from it, turn by turn.
- Rack
- The small tray each player uses to hold and hide their tiles during the game.
- Pung
- A set of three matching tiles, such as three 5 Dots.
- Kong
- A set of four matching tiles (jokers can often fill in), such as four Red Dragons.
- Pair
- Two matching tiles.
- Exposure
- A group of tiles (like a pung or kong) that you've placed face-up in front of your rack, usually after calling a discard, so the other players can see it.
- Call
- Claiming another player's discarded tile to complete a pung, kong, or quint in your hand, instead of waiting to draw it yourself.
- Mahjong
- What you call out when you complete a winning hand that matches the card — the word that ends the game.
- Wall Game
- A round that ends with the wall of tiles used up and no one completing a hand — no one wins, and in most groups the same dealer deals again.