Aldo,
I agree that the commonly accepted pronounciation rhymes with 'coach' but I have never heard/read an explanation for why the 'cc' at the end is not pronounced like the 'k' in the English word 'poke'. Could this nickname be a truncation of a word that ends in a vowel that would cause the 'cc' to be pronounced 'CH'?
There is an umlaut over the 'o' in 'Ciocc'. The Ciocc logo includes symbols of the four card suits. A brochure I have is less than fully illuminating:
"Giovanni Pellizzoli is the founder of Ciocc. Ciocc is Giovanni's nickname but please don't ask what it means! It comes from the dialect spoken in the province of Bergamo, about 20-25 miles northeast of Milan, right at the bottom of the Alps. What we know for sure is that the Ciocc logo comes from Giovanni's second biggest passion, endless card games with his friends."
Lee Berg Palo Alto, Calif.
swampmtn wrote:
>
> > and "ciocc" is COCH <
>
> Ooops - make that CHOCH
>
> Aldo Ross