Make Your Point > Archived Issues > CHOCKABLOCK

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connect today's word to others: Say we're on a ship, where a chock is a fitting made of wood or metal that you guide a rope through, and a block is a pulley or system of pulleys that increase the power of those ropes. And when we have our blocks pulled as close together as they can get, our ship is chockablock, with its bits and pieces jammed together as tightly as possible. So--even off the ship!--if something is chockablock with other things, it's jammed full of them. It's r_pl___ with those things, or totally filled with them. Chockablock joins our list of words from the world of seafaring. That list also includes foundering, keelhaul, lodestone, mainstay, and remora. Can you define each? (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "CHOCKABLOCK" To be chockablock with things is to be totally filled with them. In other words, something chockablock with other things is absolutely stuffed with them. Pronunciation: CHOCK uh block Part of speech: Adjective. Say that one thing is chockablock with other things. Other forms: Sometimes you see it with hyphens: "chock-a-block." How to use it: This is a fun, casual word. Talk about shelves, containers, walls, stores, streets, cities and so on that are chockablock with things: "stores chockablock with cheap souvenirs," "theme parks chockablock with tourists," "we searched for Waldo in illustrations chockablock with characters." You can get figurative, also, and talk about markets chockablock with products, teams chockablock with talented players, a criminal record chockablock with petty crimes, etc. Sometimes we drop the word "with" and simply call things chockablock: both the things that are in abundance ("chockablock souvenirs," "chockablock tourists") and the containers or places they're in ("chockablock stores," "chockablock theme parks"). examples: With a snowstorm on the way, Kroger is chockablock with frenzied shoppers slinging bread and bottled water into their carts. "Over the years, the aesthetic hasn’t changed much: The two main dining rooms are chockablock with red velvet, dark wood, vintage prints and paintings and enough mounted taxidermy to put the Bates Motel to shame."    —Dan Crane, The Wall Street Journal, 28 July 2016 study it now: Look away from the screen to define "chockablock" without saying "chock-full" or "packed like sardines." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "(A particular episode, show, movie, comic, book, etc.) is chockablock with (some particular kind of jokes, humor, references, or problems)." Example: "'Where No Fan Has Gone Before' is chockablock with Star Trek references." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. This month, we're playing "Sleek Slogans." I'll take a familiar slogan from a company or a product, express that slogan in plain language, and tell you the specific qualities the slogan has (like rhyme or alliteration), and then you come up with the real slogan as well as the name of the company or product. From the previous issue: Rewrite this slogan by using concision (the use of as few words as possible) and eye dialect (the use of nonstandard spelling for a humorous effect, also known as cacography): "Cows are cute and practically human in their ability to communicate, so perhaps you should do them a favor and eat fewer hamburgers, replacing those meals with the chicken that we sell." Answer: That's a slogan for Chick-fil-A: "EAT MOR CHIKIN."  Try this one today: Rewrite this slogan by using concision (the use of as few words as possible) and an oxymoron (a phrase or a statement that seems to conflict with itself): "We are able to offer you all the advantages of both a warm local bank and a powerful global bank." review today's word: 1. A close opposite of CHOCKABLOCK is A. EMPTY. B. ORDERLY. C. WELL-MANNERED. 2. Rick and his fellow survivors find the quarry chockablock with zombies, _____. A. three or four per acre B. a teeming mass shuffling shoulder to shoulder C. silent and desolate, and seemingly safe to cross Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. A 2. B