Every Monday and Thursday afternoon in Bryant Park, one of most illustrious public places in downtown New York City, the clink of intricate tiles and ignited outbursts from drawing an unlucky piece can only mean one tantalizing game: mahjong. Mahjongg, originated in China about 150 years ago, is a fascinating, gin rummy-like game played with tiles rather than cards. The game has evolved to become a popular American pastime since it was first introduced to the U.S. in early 1920s.

　　每周一和周四下午，在坐落于纽约曼哈顿市中心的布莱恩特公园，伴随着麻将牌的碰撞声和人群中爆发的阵阵吆喝声，麻将牌友们纵横捭阖、大杀四方。起源于中国的麻将于 20 世纪 20 年代传入美国，现在已成为受美国人欢迎的消遣方式。

　　"We play with a card, a mahjong card," Linda Fisher, Bryant Park's mahjong area organizer, explained major differences between Chinese and American/Jewish style of the game.

　　记者看到，美国人打麻将，都会在桌边放一张小卡片。" 这是美国麻将联盟发布的年度美式麻将规则卡，" 布莱恩特公园的麻将区组织者琳达 · 费希尔向记者介绍中国麻将和美式麻将的区别。

　　Traditional Chinese mahjong sets have 144 tiles, while American version is played with eight additional joker tiles and score cards that are published annually by non-profit organizations like National Mahjongg League. And every year the card changes just to keep it interesting, so they have to match the patterns on the card instead of making the kinds of Pengs and Kangs and Ches that the other styles of mahjong (have). So the scoring's different.

　　传统中国麻将有 144 张牌，而美国麻将还另有 8 张鬼牌(百搭牌)。费希尔说，与中国麻将固有的 " 碰 "" 杠 "" 吃 " 打法不同，美国麻将联盟每年更换麻将规则卡，列出新的可以得分、赢牌的麻将组合，以保持其趣味性。

　　麻将在中国各地规则不尽相同，传到美国，规则和牌面也多发生了巨大变化。

　　美式麻将的规则也和中式麻将不同，他们每年都会有新的变化。一般是每年麻将协会都会发行新的牌局表，上面是麻将的游戏规则，列出了一些不同赢牌的麻将组合，每年只有五十二个牌局可以赢牌。美国人打麻将的时候，身边都有一张赢牌规则卡，和牌时要严格对照规则卡必須百分之百符合规定才能和牌。

　　再来看看麻将传到国外，各类术语被翻译成了什么样?