Does anyone know of a complete list of all the 'nicknames' of mah jongg tiles?
Some I've read are:
One Circle = The Moon
Five Circle = Plum Blossom
Two Bamboo = Carrying Pole
A. D. Millington's "The Complete Book of Mah Jongg" suggests each tile has a unique 'nickname' (I haven't read the whole book, so if a list is in it I haven't come upon it yet, please let me know if you have).
Thanks for any comments!
--
Russell Wilson mailto:russell@cypresslane.com
Cypress Lane Diversions http://www.cypresslane.com Home of Mah Jongg Wall -- a new unique solitaire game
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>From: Russell Wilson <russell@cypresslane.com>
>Does anyone know of a complete list of all the 'nicknames' of mah jongg
>tiles?
>
>Some I've read are:
>
> One Circle = The Moon
> Five Circle = Plum Blossom
> Two Bamboo = Carrying Pole
Russell,
NMJL players call the White Dragon "soap."
Japanese use Chinese pronunciation for the Winds:
East Ton
South Nan
West Sha
North Pei
Americans call the winds collectively "NEWS."
American Japanese Cantonese Mandarin
White Dragon Haku Baht Bai-ban
Green Dragon Hatsu Faht ???
Red Dragon Chun Chung Chung
Americans (NMJL players) call the One Bam "Bird" or "One Bird"
Tom Sloper, Activision
Senior Producer, Shanghai
tsloper@activision.com
Actsearch@aol.com
Now available: SHANGHAI: DYNASTY -- check our website for a preview and free demo:
http://www4.activision.com/games/dynasty/
ACTSEARCH <actsearch@aol.com>wrote:
>
> Russell,
> NMJL players call the White Dragon "soap."
NMJL players also call circles "Dots" and I've also heard them referred to as "balls"
In the group where I play, we have a huge lot of nicknames for the tiles, many of them plays on words in Finnish that are far too afwul to describe here. Some others are similar to the ones already mentioned in this thread.
A typical example of a rather exotic no-puns-involved nickname is "duck"=East. Why? Because in some of the sets we use, the Chinese character on the tile looks like "a fat duck swimming" when you look at it upside down. Just use your imagination :)
Juha
In article <6k2nfu$qu4$1@hiekkalaatikko.cs.hut.fi,
jsorva@niksula.hut.fi (Juha Sorva) wrote:
>
> In the group where I play, we have a huge lot of nicknames for the tiles,
> many of them plays on words in Finnish that are far too afwul to describe
> here. Some others are similar to the ones already mentioned in this thread.
>
> A typical example of a rather exotic no-puns-involved nickname is
> "duck"=East. Why? Because in some of the sets we use, the Chinese
> character on the tile looks like "a fat duck swimming" when you look at it
> upside down. Just use your imagination :)
>
> Juha
"Duck" for the Chinese word for East - That's very interesting! Thanks for the info, Juha.
COFA TSUI
cofatsui@aicom.com
5/22/1998
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On 22 May 1998 02:21:50 GMT, jsorva@niksula.hut.fi (Juha Sorva) wrote in rec.games.mahjong:
>A typical example of a rather exotic no-puns-involved nickname is
>"duck"=East.
I think I lack imagination for this one. The two circles we call polkupy"r„.
Feico Nater, Netherlands
http://home.wxs.nl/~taaleffect
In matters of commerce the fault of the Dutch is offering too little and asking too much.
I said:
> >A typical example of a rather exotic no-puns-involved nickname is
> >"duck"=East.
Feico Nater replied:
> I think I lack imagination for this one.
Well, it might be a bit far fetched but at least in one of my sets the character (upside down) does indeed look something like a bird in water, flapping it's wings to fly away (or something).
> The two circles we call polkupy"r„.
Hey, where did you learn that? (For those of you who don't understand, that's Finnish for "fiets" :))
We sometimes call two circles "small stove", and four circles "large stove". I guess this line of reasoning would result in eight circles being an "industrial stove"...
Juha
Feico Nater (from whom we have not heard enough lately) wrote,
I think I lack imagination for this one. The two circles we call polkupy"r„.
*** I LIKE IT!!! I'd like to see Russell include it in his collection of tile nicknames
(I can't wait to see it all put together in one place)!
Tom Sloper, Activision
Senior Producer, Shanghai
tsloper@activision.com
Actsearch@aol.com
Now available: SHANGHAI: DYNASTY -- check our website for a preview and free demo:
http://www4.activision.com/games/dynasty/
On 23 May 1998 04:04:55 GMT, actsearch@aol.com (ACTSEARCH) wrote:
>Feico Nater (from whom we have not heard enough lately) wrote,
>I think I lack imagination for this one. The two circles we call
>polkupy"r„.
>
>*** I LIKE IT!!! I'd like to see Russell include it in his collection of tile
>nicknames (I can't wait to see it all put together in one place)!
You're right Tom! Of course now this will be an entry in my famous Dutch/English mahjong
website!
| Martin Rep
| The world of Mahjong:
| http://surf.to/mahjong
actsearch@aol.com (ACTSEARCH) writes:
>American Japanese Cantonese Mandarin
>White Dragon Haku Baht Bai-ban
>Green Dragon Hatsu Faht ???
>Red Dragon Chun Chung Chung
Green Dragon in Mandarin is "Fa-Tsai" (romanization up for grabs; in Pinyin it's "Fa1cai2")
--
Wei-Hwa Huang, whuang@ugcs.caltech.edu, http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~whuang/
Smoking cigarettes are bad for you, so smoking cigarettes is bad for you.
On 28 May 1998 09:31:48 GMT, whuang@ugcs.caltech.edu (Wei-Hwa Huang) wrote:
>actsearch@aol.com (ACTSEARCH) writes:
>>American Japanese Cantonese Mandarin
>>White Dragon Haku Baht Bai-ban
>>Green Dragon Hatsu Faht ???
>>Red Dragon Chun Chung Chung
>
>Green Dragon in Mandarin is "Fa-Tsai" (romanization up for grabs;
>in Pinyin it's "Fa1cai2")
And in Cantonese, often "Faht-Choy".
An off-seaon "kung-hei-faht-choy" to everyone. ^_^
"Live life with Heart."
Alan Kwan / tarot@notme.netvigator.com
http://home.netvigator.com/~tarot
(hard-core game reviews) (please remove anti-spam section "notme." from mailing
address)
>From: tarot@netvigator.com (Alan Kwan)
>And in Cantonese, often "Faht-Choy".
>
>An off-seaon "kung-hei-faht-choy" to everyone. ^_^
All RIGHT! Love that phrase! Its logical conclusion: "Lai see dow loi? Lai see dow
loi?"
Tom
>From: whuang@ugcs.caltech.edu (Wei-Hwa Huang)
>Green Dragon in Mandarin is "Fa-Tsai" (romanization up for grabs;
Thanks, Wei-Hwa. Good to get them gaps filled!
Tom
On Sun, 17 May 1998 19:36:56 GMT, Russell Wilson <russell@cypresslane.com>wrote:
>Does anyone know of a complete list of all the 'nicknames' of mah jongg tiles?
>
>Some I've read are:
>
> One Circle = The Moon
> Five Circle = Plum Blossom
> Two Bamboo = Carrying Pole
>
>A. D. Millington's "The Complete Book of Mah Jongg" suggests each tile has a
>unique 'nickname' (I haven't read the whole book, so if a list is in it I
>haven't come upon it yet, please let me know if you have).
>
>Thanks for any comments!
In our friends- and family-circle we use the following nicknames: bamboo 8 - Mother Mary
circles eight - The Locomotive
| Martin Rep
| The world of Mahjong:
| http://surf.to/mahjong
mrep@xs4all.nlNOSPAM (Martin Rep) writes:
>In our friends- and family-circle we use the following nicknames:
>bamboo 8 - Mother Mary
>circles eight - The Locomotive
In our group, 8 bam has got several names. One was Ole Olsen (former world champion of speedway), reading the tile as WM for Weltmeister, German for world champion. More recently we have called it Norma Jean Baker (a well-known American actor), reading the tile as MM, the initials of her stage name.
1 bam we call Woodstock (Snoopy's feathered friend from Peanuts).
Klaus O K
On Sun, 17 May 1998 19:36:56 GMT, Russell Wilson <russell@cypresslane.com>wrote:
>Does anyone know of a complete list of all the 'nicknames' of mah jongg tiles?
Some tiles have got unmentionable nicknames in Cantonese. I'm not going to say them here callously.
"Live life with Heart."
Alan Kwan / tarot@notme.netvigator.com
http://home.netvigator.com/~tarot
(hard-core game reviews) (remove anti-spam section "notme." from mailing
address)
On Mon, 18 May 1998 08:31:35 GMT, tarot@notme.netvigator.com (Alan Kwan) wrote:
>On Sun, 17 May 1998 19:36:56 GMT, Russell Wilson
><russell@cypresslane.com> wrote:
>
>>Does anyone know of a complete list of all the 'nicknames' of mah jongg tiles?
>
>Some tiles have got unmentionable nicknames in Cantonese. I'm not
>going to say them here callously.
Please,. come on, Alan! Speak now or be silent forever! Give us them names, for the sake
of science!
| Martin Rep
| The world of Mahjong:
| http://surf.to/mahjong
Russell Wilson wrote:
> Does anyone know of a complete list of all the 'nicknames' of mah jongg tiles?
>
> Some I've read are:
>
> One Circle = The Moon
> Five Circle = Plum Blossom
> Two Bamboo = Carrying Pole
In my circle of friends, we have these nicknames One Circle=Pizza
One Stick=Birdy, or "chirp"
Green Dragon=Fred (It has a F on it for some reason we don't know) White dragon=Bob (It
has a black box and a B) Flowers and seasons are pretties
On Mon, 18 May 1998 23:00:36 GMT, "Perhaps a Princess..." <sarah@eskimo.com>wrote:
>Russell Wilson wrote:
>In my circle of friends, we have these nicknames
>One Circle=Pizza
>One Stick=Birdy, or "chirp"
>Green Dragon=Fred (It has a F on it for some reason we don't know)
The F is for Fa, Chinese for Red Dragon
>White dragon=Bob (It has a black box and a B)
I know only the P, standing for Po (means, right: White Dragon)
But I am sure some real expert on this usenetgroup will tell you everything about that!
| Martin Rep
| The world of Mahjong:
| http://surf.to/mahjong
On Tue, 19 May 1998 04:46:27 GMT, mrep@xs4all.nlNOSPAM (Martin Rep) wrote:
>On Mon, 18 May 1998 23:00:36 GMT, "Perhaps a Princess..."
><sarah@eskimo.com> wrote:
>
>>Green Dragon=Fred (It has a F on it for some reason we don't know)
>
>The F is for Fa, Chinese for Red Dragon
>
>>White dragon=Bob (It has a black box and a B)
>
>I know only the P, standing for Po (means, right: White Dragon)
>
>But I am sure some real expert on this usenetgroup will tell you
>everything about that!
Tom did. See Tom's article.
"Live life with Heart."
Alan Kwan / tarot@notme.netvigator.com
http://home.netvigator.com/~tarot
(hard-core game reviews) (remove anti-spam section "notme." from mailing
address)
Martin Rep wrote:
>
> The F is for Fa, Chinese for Red Dragon
No, "Fa" is for the Green Dragon. In Cantonese it pronounced as "Fat", means "wealthy".
The Red Dragon is "Chung" in Cantonese. This character means "middle".
And White Dragon is "Bak Ban" in Cantonese. It is not a Chinese character. "Bak Ban" means "white board", describing the symbol on the tile.
William Chan
from Hong Kong
>From: "Perhaps a Princess..." <sarah@eskimo.com>
>Green Dragon=Fred (It has a F on it for some reason we don't know)
Sarah,
The letters on the dragons represent their Chinese pronunciations. In order L-R, Japanese
- Cantonese - Mandarin:
White Dragon Haku - Baht - Bai-ban
Green Dragon Hatsu - Faht - Faht? (I forget) Red Dragon Chun - Chung - Chung
Tom Sloper, Activision
Senior Producer, Shanghai
tsloper@activision.com
Actsearch@aol.com
Now available: SHANGHAI: DYNASTY -- check our website for a preview and free demo:
http://www4.activision.com/games/dynasty/
ACTSEARCH wrote:
> >From: "Perhaps a Princess..." <sarah@eskimo.com>
> >Green Dragon=Fred (It has a F on it for some reason we don't know)
> The letters on the dragons represent their Chinese pronunciations. In order
> L-R, Japanese - Cantonese - Mandarin:
> White Dragon Haku - Baht - Bai-ban
> Green Dragon Hatsu - Faht - Faht? (I forget)
> Red Dragon Chun - Chung - Chung
Ah! That's right. Red dragon is Charlie in my circle of friends (for the C)
Sarah Heacock
sarah@eskimo.com
A group of friends call the Green Dragon "The Jade Monkey" (shades of Wizard of Oz, I suppose). They've assigned this whole evil-good symbolism to the tiles -- green symbolizes evil, while black (blue in their set) symbolizes good.
I find it all rather insane.
--
Wei-Hwa Huang, whuang@ugcs.caltech.edu, http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~whuang/
Smoking cigarettes are bad for you, so smoking cigarettes is bad for you.
Hi all,
Finally, something I think I can speak on! At Cambridge University Mah Jongg society we have far too many nicknames, often more than one per tile. Here is a rough list:
2 bam: chopsticks 3 bam: tricycle
7 bam: tank 8 bam: gate (or Kings college chapel :-)) 9 bam: electric railway 1 circle:
Moon/ Big Ben 2 circles: bicycle/ college cooker
3 circles: traffic light 4 circles: cooker 5 circles: plum blossom 8 circles: coffin 9
circles: Jugglers nightmare
3 craks: lasagne 4 craks: teeth
6 craks: Arnie(? 6 looks like a Running Man on our sets) 7 craks: James Bond( ? 007 ? )
9 craks: Pi (most members are mathematicians)
Yes, we are all insane *8((:
Pete
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>In my circle of friends, we have these nicknames
>One Circle=Pizza
>One Stick=Birdy, or "chirp"
>Green Dragon=Fred (It has a F on it for some reason we don't know)
>White dragon=Bob (It has a black box and a B)
Actually, 1 Circle is often called the Moon (or Pearl). Winning with this tile has been called "plucking the moon from the bottom of the sea" (which also associates "moon" & "pearl").
1 Bamboo is the Sparrow. One translation of "mah-jongg" is "sparrows," and shuffling the tiles is sometimes called "the twittering of sparrows."
The letters on the so-called "dragon" tiles (which were not originally called dragons in China, btw) are:
F: "Fa" = commence
C: "Chung" =
center
B: "Bai" = white
"Fa" and "Chung" are the names of the characters pictured on the tiles. The letter B is really superfluous on the white tile, which was originally just a blank.
Btw, if you really want some cool nicknames for the tiles, check out Derek Walters' book on mah-jongg divination! He assigns names--and meanings--to all the tiles. (You can also find this info online by searching; I've forgotten where exactly.)
Patrick Carroll
patronius@aol.com
Before I learned about the game's origins, I would call the 1 Bamboo tile "the Parakeet." Now I'm stuck withit.:-)
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