Cup-a-Soup

From: Craig Anderson
Subject: Cup-A-Soup
To: premierfoods.co.uk
Date: Sunday, 30 January, 2011

Hi, people of Batchelors.

Over the last few months I’ve developed a craving for cup-a-soup, in particular Chicken. At first I suspected it might be because I was pregnant which, as my wife was quick to point out, is highly unlikely given that I am a 36 year old man. In fact, it’s highly unlikely in a man of any age. We came to an agreement that I’m going through a phase where I just like them a lot.

My cupboards are highly stocked with cup-a-soups and I go through bread like there is no tomorrow, usually four slices at a time.

I was looking in my cupboards the other day, casting my eyes around the contents to find a snack, and I noticed something on your Cup-A-Soup packaging that sparked a question deep within my mind.

What does the “A” in Cup-A-Soup stand for?

Now I know you’re an intelligent company, so I suspect it stands for something that only intelligent people like you or I would understand. I ran through a few alternatives…

• Maybe it stands for Afore, and your product is a cleverly worded instruction on the order you need to get all the components together to create the perfect meal. When preparing it, you ALWAYS put the cup down afore the soup, otherwise you get quite a wet counter. If this is what A stands for, I’m impressed!

• Maybe it stands for à la, as in the French word meaning “in the style of.” I quickly dismissed this as an option, as “Cup à la Soup” implies you would be preparing a cup in the style of some soup. Plus “à la” is two words.

• Maybe it stands for Accommodating, as in it’s a cup that contains soup. I dismissed this too, as it implies you’re selling a complete kit containing soup AND a cup which, unfortunately, you’re not. Also you would need a comma to make it grammatically correct so it would be a “Cup, Accommodating Soup.”

• Maybe it’s a shortened version of the reassuring noise you make when you finally get to sit down and have a Cup-a-soup. Maybe it means, “Aaaaahhhhhh”. I’ll grab my Cup….. Aaaaaahhhhh, soup!

I know there are other possibilities for what the could A stand for, (I did get around 12 possibilities after just a couple of hours of thought,) but to list them all would be silly.

So, please enlighten me! Have I already listed what the A stands for, or is there a different, more intelligent answer that I have overlooked?

I really look forward to your reply!

Craig Anderson

From: premierfoods.co.uk
Subject: [F71306] Cup A Soup
To: giggl.co.uk
Date: Monday, 31 January, 2011

It is just a short and catchy way of saying A cup of soup.
Regards,
Sandra

From: Craig Anderson
Subject: Re: [F71306] Cup A Soup
To: premierfoods.co.uk
Date: Thursday, 3 February, 2011

Thanks for getting back to me, Sandra!

But Nooooo! I really wanted it to be something other than that! I wanted an exciting word, starting with A, that meant something like “containing” or “full of.” Then it would make sense to me.

It seems to me as though the A in Cup-A-Soup could actually stand for “Of” It can’t be as simple as that, can it? That wouldn’t make sense! Am I looking too deeply into it?

Craig.

From: PremierFoods.co.uk
Subject: Re: [F71306] Cup A Soup
To: “Craig Anderson”
Date: Friday, 4 February, 2011

What about:

• appertaining to,

• appropriate to,

• attributed to

But they are a bit of a mouth full.

Regards,

Sandra

From: Craig Anderson
Subject: Re: [F71306] Cup A Soup
To: premierfoods.co.uk
Date: Saturday, 5 February, 2011

OOOOOOOOOOOOH, I like your suggestions Sandra, (and enjoyed your mouthful pun!) and I really do appreciate you asking what I think of them, but surely it is up to you to have the final say on what the A stands for? Plus, all your suggestions are two words. Adopting any of them would change the name even further and make it “Cup-A-T-Soup”.

I’ve asked around, and I believe there are two possible workable solutions. I wondered what you think of them:

Firstly, the general consensus amongst my friends is that it might be better suited to being called Cup-O-Soup, with the O meaning “Of”. This would mean rebranding all your packaging and EVERYTHING, and may cost way over a thousand pounds.

However, as I have been thinking about this quite a lot, (as I’m sure you can imagine,) I came up with a much cheaper idea.

You don’t sell cups. You just sell the soup to put IN cups. People have to already own cups to put your soup into. So what is needed is the invention of a brand new word, beginning with A, that you can use between the words “Cup” and “Soup”, that literally means “…not included; this packet just contains powdered…”

So if you could invent a brand new word that could be used, you could potentially have saved your company thousands! Something like Ansideopowder, or suchlike.

I’ve also composed a haiku with which to summarise everything.

New “A” word needed,
To fit betwixt Cup and Soup,
Over to you Sand!

If you could reply in haiku, I would be deeply impressed.

Craig

Re: [F71306] Cup A Soup
Tuesday, 8 February, 2011 11:12
From: “PremierFoods.co.uk”
To: “Craig Anderson”

Sorry to disappoint you,
About my lack of rhyme,
To be honest with you Craig,
I just don’t have the time,

I appreciate your efforts,
To solve this Cup A Grief,
Keep on enjoying Cup A Soup,
It really is a treat.

Sandra, you fill me with joy!