You may come across the word choc in Italian in some unexpected contexts. While it looks like it might be an abbreviation of the Italian word for chocolate (cioccolato), that would be choco.

It’s pronounced much like the English ‘shock’, and has roughly the same meaning.

As in French, choc is used in Italian as an adjective meaning ‘shocking’. But if you’re already familiar with the French usage, be aware that it doesn’t have quite as many different applications in Italian.

And it’s not a word you’ll hear used in spoken Italian very often. You’re far more likely to see it written down, and almost always in news headlines.

In fact, choc is one of those words – like ‘maxi’, ’tilt’, and ‘boom’ – which can be categorised as giornalese: language used almost exclusively by Italian newspaper editors.

You might spot it above reports of, for example, un arresto choc (a shock arrest), dati shock (shocking data), bollette choc (shocking utility bills) or even scontrini choc (shocking bills or receipts).

You might also see the English ‘shock’ used as an adjective in the same way. This is especially common in advertising: phrases like prezzi shock (‘shocking prices’ – by which we imagine retailers mean ‘shockingly low’…) can be a little jarring to Anglophones.

While we wouldn’t recommend peppering your Italian-language speech with either ‘choc’ or ‘shock’ – unless you want to sound like an over-enthusiastic advertising executive – at least you won’t be surprised (or shocked) when you see these words used around you.

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