Mock Turtle he was a Turtle the Mock Turtle answers, "We called him tortoise because he taught us!" ('tortoise' and 'taught us' both being pronounced <tɔːtʊs> in Carroll's dialect). To say that the Mock Turtle's name is a pun on the name of the soup is incomplete. The Tenniel illustration of the Mock Turtle specifically depicts it as a collection of creatures that make up the ingredients of mock turtle soup; they are not random. The pun is not only of the name, but of the nature of the soup itself. Traditionally, mock turtle soup takes the parts of a calf that
Cup-a-Soup starch, potato starch, sugar, salt, flavouring, glucose syrup, flavour enhancers (monosodium glutamate, disodium-ribonucleotides, parsley, yeast extract, hydrogenated vegetable oil). Grammarians have argued as to the correct plural form of Cup-a-Soup. Some believe the correct form is "Cups-a-Soup", whereas others contest that being a registered trademark the correct form is "Cup-a-Soups" (e.g. in Reeves and Mortimer's "Slade in Residence"). Cup-a-Soup features prominently in the Reeves and Mortimer sketches 'Slade in Residence' and 'Slade on Holiday' with the band being avid consumers of the instant soup. Cup-a-Soup Cup-a-Soup is an instant soup product sold under various brands worldwide. The soup is sold