What’s the Deal with the Phrase Chock Full?

on Apr 15, 2012, Updated May 01, 2023

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What is the term chock full? What does it mean? Why isn’t it chalk full instead? Read on to learn about this confusing English idiom.

5 Minute Grammar Lesson - chock full or chalk full

I made this mistake on my blog a couple of weeks ago and a friend was kind enough to point it out. Thanks, Chantal!

In a post I wrote about what to eat when the pantry is empty, I made a remark about something being CHALK-FULL. Turns out, chalk has nothing to do with it (whatever IT is). The expression is CHOCK-FULL. If you can’t take it, don’t dish it, right? 🙂

Have you ever heard someone use the phrase “chock-full”? Maybe you’ve seen it written in a book or heard it on TV. But have you ever stopped to wonder what it means and why it’s spelled that way?

What the heck does Chock-full?

Simply put, CHOCK FULL means completely full or packed to capacity. When something is chock-full, there’s no room for anything else. For example, you might say that your schedule is chock-full if you have no free time or that your suitcase is chock-full if you’ve packed it to the brim.

It’s interesting to think for a minute about where the phrase CHOCK FULL comes from. The word “chock” actually has several meanings, one of which is a wedge or block used to prevent movement. In nautical terms, a chock is a fitting on a ship’s deck used to secure ropes or cables. So, when something is chock-full, it’s packed so tightly that it’s like a wedge or block that prevents anything else from moving.

Now, let’s address the elephant in the room: why isn’t it spelled “chalk full”? After all, “chalk” is a word, and it sort of makes sense that something could be so full that it’s overflowing with chalk, right? Well, not exactly. While “chalk full” is a common misspelling of “chock-full,” it’s not correct.

The origins of “chock-full” can be traced back to Middle English, where the word “chokke” meant a block or plug. Over time, this word evolved into “chock,” which eventually came to mean a wedge or block used to prevent movement. So, the “chock” in “chock-full” has nothing to do with chalk at all.