From Answers.com:
ETAOIN SHRDLU is the approximate order of frequency of the twelve most commonly used letters in the English language. This is distinct from the letter frequency of dictionary words. Jocularly pronounced it sounds like EH tee oyn SHIRD loo. It is best known as a nonsense phrase that sometimes appeared in print due to a custom of Linotype machine operators. The complete sequence is usually listed as ETAOIN SHRDLU CMFWYP VBGKQJ XZ.
ETAOIN SHRDLU were the first two vertical columns on the left side of the Linotype keyboard, which was arrayed in letter frequency. Linotype operators ran a finger down the lines of keys to temporarily mark a slug of type. Occasionally this would be printed erroneously. That happened often enough that the phrase is listed in the Oxford English Dictionary and in the Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. A documentary about the last issue of the New York Times to be composed in the hot-metal printing process (July 2, 1978) was entitled Farewell, Etaoin Shrdlu.
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