---
layout: post
status: publish
published: true
title: ! 'Pynchon Character Etymology: Étienne Cherdlu'

wordpress_id: 1790
wordpress_url: https://www.martineve.com/2012/01/09/pynchon-character-etymology-etienne-cherdlu/
date: !binary |-
  MjAxMi0wMS0wOSAwOTo0MjozNyArMDEwMA==
date_gmt: !binary |-
  MjAxMi0wMS0wOSAwOTo0MjozNyArMDEwMA==
categories:
- Literature
- Thomas Pynchon
- Academia
tags:
- Pynchon
- etymology
comments: []
---
<p>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 <i>Pynchon Character Names: A Dictionary</i> (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.)</p>
<p>The name is a reference to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ETAOIN_SHRDLU">ETAOIN SHRDLU</a>, 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.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.martineve.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/800px-ClavierLinotype_20041006-163300.jpg" alt="Linotype" title="Linotype" style="width:750px;" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1791" /></p>
<p><i>Featured image by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ClavierLinotype_20041006-163300.jpg">Schwallex</a> under a CC-BY-SA license.</i></p>