Merriam-Webster doesn't say chalk the way I do either.

[conuly]

I can only imagine that this is due to the same sort of linguistic process that makes us in New York the only people to correctly pronounce words like "coffee", right?

Comments

Yeah, right.

[marveen.livejournal.com]

As I pronounce it, there is a slight "L" sound still in chalk that's absent from chock.

Historically, though, the elision from L to R is easy and frequent (cf. calked boots referred to as "cork boots" in logging camps) and omitting it entirely frequent as well (see "caulking", pronounced "cocking").