Originally published on eve.gd on 9 January 2012, last updated 6 September 2026.
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With thanks to Roland Clare, a quick snippet of interest (certainly to me, anyway) on the etymology of a certain Étienne Cherdlu, a character featuring, despite omission from Hurley's Pynchon Character Names: A Dictionary (Hurley, Patrick. Pynchon Character Names: A Dictionary. Jefferson N.C.: McFarland & Co. Publishers, 2008.), in "The Secret Integration". (Pynchon, Thomas. “The Secret Integration.” In Slow Learner: Early Stories, 139-193. Boston: Back Bay Books/Little Brown, 1985.)
The name is a reference to ETAOIN SHRDLU, a phrase that appeared during the days of linotype machines where keys were arranged by letter frequency in the English language. ATAOINSHRDLU are, then, the key orders, similar to qazwsx on a contemporary keyboard.
Featured image by Schwallex under a CC-BY-SA license.
This reference list has been generated, in many cases, through an automated process and may therefore contain errors or incomplete metadata. It is provided purely as assistance for finding the items mentioned within this post.
1. ‘ETAOIN SHRDLU’, Wikipedia, 19 March 2003 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ETAOIN_SHRDLU>
2. ‘File:Linotype keyboard with Star Quadder attachment.jpg’, Wikipedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ClavierLinotype_20041006-163300.jpg>