What it means
Proper British shorthand for totally full, packed out, no room to breathe. You use it for trains, pubs, car parks, schedules, bags, anywhere that's bursting at the seams. It's basically a clipped, punchier version of chock-a-block, so it lands fast and sounds dead natural in everyday chat.
Usage examples
"You coming for a pint after work? Can’t, mate, the pub’s chocka and my inbox is worse. Let’s grab a takeaway and bail."
"The last train was chocka, I had to stand the whole way with my face in someone's rucksack."
"Town's chocka on a Saturday, let's do the shop early before the car park fills up."
"Nah, skip that bus, it's chocka already and we’ll be wedged in somebody’s armpit till Brixton."
"My weekend’s chocka mate, birthday drinks Friday, footy Saturday, roast at my mum’s Sunday."
Where it comes from
Chocka comes from British chock-a-block, an older phrase with nautical roots. In sailing gear, when two pulley blocks were hauled tight together, there was no space left and no more movement to give. That image of being jammed solid drifted into everyday speech, and chocka kept the same packed-full meaning in a shorter form.
Other ways to say it
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