ETAOINSHRDLU were the first 12 letters on the Linotype keyboard, which was arrayed in order of frequency of usage. Linotype operators often generated the phrase by running their fingers down the line of keys, in order to complete a slug of type that contained a mistake. Occasionally this erroneous type would be included in the printed publication.
That happened often enough that the phrase is listed in the Oxford English Dictionary and has been used as a character name by a number of authors, and also the name of the computer program SHRDLU.
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