Why are the primary keyboard shortcuts so arbitrary?

Why are the keyboard shortcuts in UE4 so arbitrary? For example, R is scale. Not rotate! Shouldn’t R be for Rotate? Instead of E, which could refer to extruding or elongating or something else to do with scale. The same goes for W. What does W have to do with moving objects?

My point being, is there some kind of a purpose (or even a mnemonic) for these naming conventions? Or did UE4 decide to just mess with people coming in from Blender and other traditional 3D software?

It follows the same shortcuts as some big 3D modelling tools (e.g.: Autodesk 3ds Max/Shortcuts - Wikibooks, open books for an open world), this makes the designers’ job easier.