Hence the joke book I heard of as a kid: "101 ways to wok your dog". Tock and talk are pronounced the same, as is wok (the cooking instrument) and walk.

Is this really true in most American accents? In my midwestern accent “tock” and “talk” absolutely don’t rhyme, but maybe I’m the outlier here.

in the northwest (Vancouver, BC area) tock and talk rhyme (they are pretty much homonyms).