Meanings
plural etaoin shrdlus · alternative etaoin · alternative etaoin shrdlu cmfwyp · alternative shrdlu · alternative shrdlu etaoin · alternative etaoinshrdlu · alternative etaoinshrdlcumwfgypbvkjxqz
- Nonsense, filler text (dummy text), or an example of accidental typing (typo).
You can see why compositors reflexively filled lines to be corrected with etaoin shrdlus.
1989, Alex Brown, In print: text and type, page 137
Origin
From the arrangement of letters on the keyboard of a linotype machine: typesetters would mark errors by running their fingers across the keys, and the results would sometimes accidentally find their way into print. The letters in the string are, approximately, the 12 most commonly used letters in the English language, ordered by their frequency, which drove the design of the linotype keyboard.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
etaoin shrdlu. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/etaoin%20shrdlu
“etaoin shrdlu.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/etaoin%20shrdlu. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “etaoin shrdlu,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/etaoin%20shrdlu.
Source: etaoin shrdlu on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.