Mahjong terms, in plain English

The words you will hear at an American Mahjong table. In the lessons and drills, tap any underlined word to see its meaning.

Call

Taking a tile someone just discarded, to finish a pung, kong or quint or to win. The finished group goes face up on your rack.

The passing round before play starts. You trade away tiles you do not want, three at a time.

Kept hidden on your rack. For a concealed hand you may not call a discard, except the one tile that wins.

A hand that can no longer win. It only counts as dead once another player calls it dead. From then on, its player stops drawing and discarding.

The tile you put face up in the middle at the end of your turn, naming it out loud.

Red, Green or white. The white one is called Soap. A set has four of each.

Laid face up on top of your rack for everyone to see, after you call a discard.

A picture tile. A set has eight, and in play they all count as the same tile.

The tiles without numbers: the four Winds and the three Dragons.

A wild tile. It can stand in for any tile in a pung, kong or quint, but never in a pair or as a single tile. A set has eight.

Four identical tiles, like four North winds. Jokers may fill in.

Our practice card's name for numbers in a row, like 1, 2, 3, 4. On real cards these are called consecutive runs.

Two identical tiles. A Joker can never be used in a pair.

Three identical tiles, like three 5 Dots. Jokers may fill in.

Five identical tiles. Most tiles come four to a set, so a quint usually needs a Joker.

The stand in front of you. Your tiles face you on it; groups you expose sit on top for everyone to see.

The white dragon. American players call it Soap.

One of the three numbered families: Bams, Craks and Dots. Each runs 1 to 9, four of every tile.

The rows of face-down tiles built at the start. Each turn you draw the next tile from the wall.

North, East, South or West. A set has four of each.