Why do I need to know choc?

Because you might be shocked to learn about the other meanings of this French term. 

What does it mean?

Choc – roughly pronounced shock – looks like an abbreviation of chocolate in French, but that would be choco.

It is most commonly translated in English as ‘shock’, and the pronunciation is very similar. You can also use it as a verb (choquer) or an adjective (choquant). 

While this meaning is accurate in many contexts, there are a few other meanings for the word choc in French.

You can use it to refer to a ‘clash’. For example, a political debate on primetime TV might be advertised as a le choc des personalités (the clash of personalities).

Similar to ‘shock’ in English, it can also be used to describe a physical jolt or impact. 

This definition might help people make sense of a recent policy by the ministry of education – the choc des savoirs – which involves sorting pupils into different skill groups. The idea was described as giving the kids a wave of knowledge to improve test scores.

Use it like this

Le stagiaire a dit en plaisantant que le lieu de travail est un ‘choc des cultures’. – The intern joked that the workplace is a ‘clash of cultures’.

Son argument selon lequel il ne prendrait jamais l’avion a beaucoup choqué mon père. – His argument about never flying was very shocking to my dad.