Another story has more to do with the Italian language that it has to do with culinary invention. "Soup" may be a complete mistranslation of the Italian verb inzuppare, according to The Dictionary of Italian Food penned by John Mariani. The verb may mean to soak up or sop up, and it is true that the cake in the dessert does soak up the alcohol. Mariana contends that somewhere along the line, the entire title was misunderstood, leading to the peculiar name of English soup. This account still considers Trifle as the potential inspiration for the dish.