Hi Mickey,

I agree with you, there are many different spellings (and misspellings!) out there for our favourite ethnic soup! The proper spelling in the Russian (Cyrillic) alphabet is "борщ". However, because there is no single, standard system for transliterating the Russian (Cyrillic) alphabet into the English (Latin) alphabet, a number of different spellings have arisen. According to the US Library of Congress System (my favorite) the correct spelling would be "borshch". However, it is also common to see it spelt "borsch", "borsh", "borsht", etc. I have often seen the latter spelling used by Mennonites, Germans and Jews from Russia.

Note that in the case of the "Langford novelist..." entry posted above, although I noticed the misspelling of "borsht", it has been reproduced here exactly as it was originally printed in the Goldstream News Gazette.

Thanks for pointing this out - it is important that we recognize correct Russian spellings, and strive to ensure that these are consistently followed in a standardized manner.

Best Regards,

Jon