Posted by Robert Hill on September 30, 2002 at 00:18:24 from 195.92.168.163 user eclrh.
In Reply to: Re: Pigeon Post posted by Dan Lind on September 29, 2002 at 15:28:41:
"Chock-a-block", meaning full, is a very common usage, not confined to
nautical people. "Chock" also occurs in "chocks away!" as used by airmen.
A chock is a wedge or block, in the non-nautical sense of "block".
Chambers relates "chock" to "choke", not to "cheek".
Chambers does not relate the "block" in "chock-a-block" to the nautical
sense of "block", i.e. pulley. However I can well imagine that
"chock-a-block" might have arisen from sailors inserting a wedge into
a nautical block to stop it turning.
If somebody finds the PD reference it may prove this guess wrong.