Reference · 詞彙
The Glossary
Every word you'll hear at the table, romanized recklessly and defined honestly. Cantonese first, because that's who taught us.
A note on romanization: we write Cantonese the way it lands on American-born ears, not the way a linguistics department would. If you can say it across a folding table and be understood over the clacking, it’s spelled right. Mandarin speakers: you’re welcome here too — the characters work in every accent.
The calls
上
seung
up
Claim your left neighbor’s discard to complete a run. The polite little sibling of the calls.
碰
pong
collide
Claim anyone’s discard to complete a triplet. Beats a seung. Sounds exactly like what it does.
槓
kong
kong
Four of a kind — open, added, or concealed. Called out loud like a pong, and it comes with a bonus replacement draw from the marked end of the wall.
食糊
sik wu
eat the win
The winning declaration. The word every other rule on this site exists to deliver.
自摸
zi mo
self-touch
Winning on your own draw. Everyone pays double, which is why it’s announced at the volume it’s announced at.
太碰
tai-pong
thinking about ponging
A request for grace — hold on, let me think about this one. Claims nothing; the table gives you the beat.
補花
bou faa
patch the flower
Setting a drawn flower aside and taking a replacement tile from the back of the wall.
States of being
聽牌
ting paai · "calling"
listening for the tile
One tile from winning — at this table you say you are calling. Symptoms include sudden quiet, careful breathing, and fooling absolutely no one.
門前清
mun cin cing
clean in front of the door
A hand built with zero claims — fully concealed. The cash arrives via the silent fortress: four concealed pongs plus a Zi-Mo, 6 points. The smugness arrives free.
莊
zong
the dealer's seat
The dealer. Wins bigger, loses bigger, and at this table, keeps the deal by winning — 連莊 lin zong.
上家 / 下家
seung gaa / haa gaa
upper house / lower house
Your left neighbor, whose discards you can seung, and your right neighbor, who can seung yours. Choose your enemies accordingly.
三缺一
saam kyut yat
three lacking one
Three players, no fourth. The most emotionally coercive phrase in the language; legally binding on anyone within earshot.
開檯
hoi toi
open the table
The summons to play. Once spoken, dinner plans dissolve and schedules rearrange themselves.
Winning & losing
番
faan
a double
A point, in the family vernacular. Each one doubles the payout up the ladder. Count them out loud — it’s customary and it’s cardio.
雞糊
gai wu
chicken hand
A zero-point win — legal here, and it pays the base stake, which is literally named after it. Humble. Honest. Poultry.
平糊
ping wu
level win
All runs plus a pair. Worth 1 point and the quiet respect owed to anyone who ships something on time.
對對糊
deui deui wu
pair-pair win
All triplets. 3 points of pure clack. The loudest architecture available to a legal hand.
混一色
wan yat sik
mixed one color
One suit plus honors. 3 points. Committed, but keeps its options — the situationship of hands.
清一色
cing yat sik
pure one color
One suit, nothing else. 6 points — straight to the Spicy cap. Monochrome outfit energy; everyone saw it coming and couldn’t stop it. See also: 9-cards.
大三元
daai saam yun
big three dragons
Pongs of all three dragons. 6 points — the cap — and a story your table will tell at your wedding.
十三幺
sap saam jiu
thirteen orphans
One of every terminal and honor plus a pair. 6 points, the cap. Irrational to attempt, immortal to land.
七對子
chat deui zi
seven pairs
A legal hand of seven pairs — no melds, all pairs. 4 points for fourteen tiles of pure hoarding behavior.
九張
gau zoeng · "9-cards!"
nine cards
The on-record warning that someone’s exposed melds show nine tiles of one suit. Feed the full flush after this and you pay all debts. You were warned. Out loud.
出銃
ceot cung
fire the cannon
Discarding the tile someone wins on. You pay double — and if ‘9-cards’ was on record for a full flush, you pay everyone’s shares.
詐糊
zaa wu
fraudulent win
Declaring a win you don’t have. You pay all three players the table maximum, and nobody forgets it.
截糊
zit wu
intercepted win
Two players want the same winning discard; the one closer in turn order takes it. The other one remembers it forever.
海底撈月
hoi dai laau jyut
scoop the moon from the sea
Winning on the very last live tile of the wall. No extra points — just instant legend status and the name of somebody’s future boba shop.
Table talk & vibes
太太
taai taai
madam of the house
The matriarch, the commissioner, the final court of appeal. This site is her jurisdiction; we just play in it.
麻雀
maa zoek
sparrow
The game itself — named, allegedly, for the sound of tiles being washed. The sparrows should be flattered.
洗牌
sai paai
wash the tiles
The full-volume face-down shuffle. Doubles as the household announcement system that a game is forming.
辣
laat · "Spicy"
spicy
The 6-point cap on the doubling ladder. Past this point you’re playing for glory, which is the point.
發財
faat coi
get rich
The green dragon’s full name and the table’s collective mission statement. See also: every Lunar New Year greeting.
流局
lau guk
washed-out hand
The wall runs out with no winner. Nobody pays, the dealer re-deals, and the next hand is declared ’the real one.'