ETAOIN SHRDLU

ETAOIN SHRDLU ( /ˈɛteiˌɔɪn ˈʃrədlu/) is a nonsense phrase that sometimes appeared in print in the days of "hot type" publishing because of a custom of Linotype machine operators. It appeared frequently enough that it became part of the lore of newspapers. A documentary about the last issue of The New York Times to be composed in the hot-metal printing process (2 July 1978) was titled Farewell, Etaoin Shrdlu.

It is the approximate order of frequency of the 12 most commonly used letters in the English language.