MooT Question Icon
Originally journalism slang, it denotes the series of characters that result if you sweep your fingers down the two left-side columns of Linotype keys." What phrase is it?




Etymology, Etymology, and more Etymology
as well as grammar, usage, euphemism, slang, jargon, semantics (meaning), linguistics, neologism, idiom, word origin, syntax, dialect, lexicon (vocabulary), diction, pidgin, synonym, antonym, homonym, cant, argot, lingo, and redundancy.


A picture of a moot game

The critically-acclaimed board game MooT consists of tough questions about the nuances of the English language.
To join our mailing list and get free brain-twisting MooT questions sent to you irregularly, enter your email address and then press submit.

E-Mail address:




Back to home page



Answer: etaoin shrdlu

It signalled "cut out this sentence," and was what typesetters did when they had to start over after messing up a line if type.

Source: Online Etymology Dictionary

Copyright 1998-2006 Blair Arts Ltd. All rights reserved.