Editing Mao (card game) (section)

=== Speaking ===
Many of the rules of Mao involve speech. Mostly this means that the right thing must be said at the right time. Saying the wrong thing, or speaking at the wrong time, will usually incur a penalty.

;No talking
:In most variants of Mao, no unnecessary speech is allowed, and one may only speak when required to do so by the rules.  For example, if one plays a 6 of spades (with the declaring spades rule active), one is required to say "six of spades" and will be penalized for not doing so.  But if one says, "six of spades, I didn't forget this time" one will be penalized for the additional unnecessary speech. A different but common way to say this is "excessive verbosity".
;Point of order
:Any player (or, in some variations, only the dealer) may at any time announce "point of order",<ref name="George"/><ref name="mu"/><ref name="sample"/><ref name="cambridge"/> which is a signal for all players to put down their cards while discussion takes place.
;Thank you
:It may be required to thank the dealer for each penalty card.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.nicholasc.info/cardgames/mao.html| title=Ultimate Mao (aka Chinese Bartog)| access-date=2007-06-24}}</ref>  Usually a player is given a reasonable amount of time to say "thank you" before being penalized.  Failure to say "thank you" after a penalty card will usually result in another penalty card.  One "thank you" will usually cover for all occurrences where it was required.
;Last card
:Some variants require the player to announce when they have only one card left in their hand.<ref name="mu"/><ref name="KWTm"/><ref name="cambridge"/>  This can be with the statement of "last card", "zin", "one card left" or "Mao" itself (similar to Uno). If a player fails to announce their last card, they receive a penalty card. In some versions, they continue to receive penalty cards until they announce their last card. At this point, because it is not their last card anymore, they are given three additional penalty cards in quick succession for "lying, cheating, theft".
;End game
:Upon playing their last card, a player must call out "Mao", "game over" or some other similar phrase to win.<ref name="George"/><ref name="mu"/><ref name="cambridge"/> Should a player forget to say "Mao", or call it incorrectly, they are penalized. Stacking penalties at this point can cause much grief to a player who has gleefully placed their last card down and proclaimed "Mao", only to discover that they have broken some rule.
;Swearing
:Many variants prohibit swearing,<ref name="George"/><ref name="mu"/><ref name="sample"/><ref name="KWTm"/><ref name="cambridge"/> whereas other variants consider swearing to be an exception to the prohibition on excessive verbosity. 
;Playing a king
:In some variants, playing a king requires the player to say "hail to the chairman" (alluding to [[Mao Zedong|Chairman Mao]]) or "all hail the chief", and playing a queen requires the player to say "hail to the chairwoman", "hail the chairman's wife", "all hail the chair lady",<ref name="pineapple"/> or "all hail her Mighty Majesty the Queen of Spades". Then the other players are sometimes required to say "all hail". In other variants, playing a king requires the player to say "The king has entered the building." When the next player plays a card, they must say "The king has left the building."
;"Have a nice day"
:Some versions of the game will require a player to tell the next player "[[have a nice day]]" upon playing a seven. For instance, if the next person was John, the player would say "have a nice day John". Not doing so would result in a penalty card.<ref name="mu"/><ref name="sample"/><ref name="KWTm"/><ref name="cambridge"/><ref name="pineapple"/>
;Special card names
:In some variants, specific cards are given a name that is to be said instead of the real name of the card. For example, upon playing the nine of diamonds or a joker, a player might say "that's the badger!"<ref name="cambridge"/> Failure to say this would result in a penalty card.