When turn-of-century scholar Ku Hung-ming found himself one tile short he popped a tile he was about to discard into his mouth, pretending it was a quid of chewing tobacco. Mahjongg is just a pastime, but if you sit back and play by luck it makes for a dull game, not to speak of the risk to your gambling stake.
清末民初學者辜鴻銘有次就打成了「相公」﹘﹘少了一張牌；原來他一緊張，把要打出去的牌，當成是煙咬在嘴上呢。