American NMJL glossary
23 terms with example hands.
Year card
Official NMJL list of scoring patterns for the current year.
2s
2s pair
Seasons
Dragons
Edit in hand generator →View pattern page →Open storyboard → Charleston
Pre-play tile exchange phase before the first discard.
123 Man
456 Pin
789 Sou
Flowers
Winds
Edit in hand generator →View pattern page →Open storyboard → Pattern hand
A hand that matches a specific year-card diagram (often with jokers).
2s2s pairSeasonsDragonsEdit in hand generator →View pattern page →Open storyboard → Joker
Wild tile used in exposed melds for pung/kong/quint on the card.
RedGreenWhite123 ManPairEdit in hand generator →View pattern page →Open storyboard → Exposure
Open meld placed on the rack after calling a discard.
RedGreenWhite123 ManPairEdit in hand generator →View pattern page →Open storyboard → Call
Claiming a discard to complete a pung, kong, quint, or pair per card.
123 Man456 Pin789 SouFlowersWindsEdit in hand generator →View pattern page →Open storyboard → Rack
Standing tile holder; exposed and concealed tiles are arranged here.
123 Man456 Pin789 SouFlowersWindsEdit in hand generator →View pattern page →Open storyboard → Dead hand
Invalid hand that cannot win — wrong exposure, too few tiles, etc.
123 Man
456 Pin
789 Sou
South
Pair
Edit in hand generator →View pattern page →Open storyboard → Quint
Five identical tiles — common on year-card patterns.
RedGreenWhite123 ManPairEdit in hand generator →View pattern page →Open storyboard → Kong (Four of a kind)
Four identical tiles; may use jokers when exposed.
RedGreenWhite123 ManPairEdit in hand generator →View pattern page →Open storyboard → Pair
Two matching tiles; often the last set completed for mahjong.
2s2s pairSeasonsDragonsEdit in hand generator →View pattern page →Open storyboard → Singles and pairs pattern
Card category using isolated tiles and pairs instead of pungs.
2s2s pairSeasonsDragonsEdit in hand generator →View pattern page →Open storyboard → Consecutive run
Sequence of numbers in one suit required by many card lines.
123 Man456 Pin789 SouFlowersWindsEdit in hand generator →View pattern page →Open storyboard → Dragon tile
Red, green, or white dragon — frequent in year-card patterns.
RedGreenWhite123 ManPairEdit in hand generator →View pattern page →Open storyboard → Wind tile
East, south, west, or north — used in winds/dragons patterns.
123 Man456 Pin789 SouFlowersWindsEdit in hand generator →View pattern page →Open storyboard → Soap (zero)
White dragon used as 0 in year-dated patterns like 2025.
2s2s pairSeasonsDragonsEdit in hand generator →View pattern page →Open storyboard → Table rule
House agreements on joker exchange, wall game, and scoring.
123 Man456 Pin789 SouFlowersWindsEdit in hand generator →View pattern page →Open storyboard → Wall game
No winner when tiles run out — often no payments or split pot.
123 Man456 Pin789 SouFlowersWindsEdit in hand generator →View pattern page →Open storyboard → Pass (Charleston)
Mandatory tile exchange with another player during Charleston.
123 Man456 Pin789 SouFlowersWindsEdit in hand generator →View pattern page →Open storyboard → Courtesy pass
Optional final exchange after the main Charleston rounds.
123 Man456 Pin789 SouFlowersWindsEdit in hand generator →View pattern page →Open storyboard → American mahjong
NMJL-style tile mahjong played with a yearly pattern card and jokers.
2s2s pairSeasonsDragonsEdit in hand generator →View pattern page →Open storyboard → Pung (Triplet)
Three identical tiles — a common building block on the year card.
RedGreenWhite123 ManPairEdit in hand generator →View pattern page →Open storyboard → Redeem joker
Swap a natural tile for a joker in an exposed meld when you hold the matching tile.
RedGreenWhite123 ManPairEdit in hand generator →View pattern page →Open storyboard →