Lorem ipsum
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lorem ipsum is a standard placeholder text in publishing and graphic design. This means that it is often used to fill gaps in the page when text hasn't been put in. It is used to show the graphic elements of a document or its visual presentation, such as fonts, typography, and layout. Lorem ipsum can also be placeholder text in mock-ups of visual design projects before the actual words are put into the finished product. This is often called greeking.
Often, readers of the text become curious about what it means. Lorem ipsum also resembles classical Latin. However, neither reaction is intended. The placeholder text is simply meant as a placeholder, to show other aspects of the document. Often, Lorem ipsum is used to show what a font or a design looks like. The distribution of letters in lorem ipsum is close to that in English language. This helps to shift the fous to presentation.
The most common lorem ipsum text reads as follows:
- Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
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[change] History and discovery
The text is derived from Cicero's De finibus bonorum et malorum (On the Ends of Goods and Evils, sometimes the title is translated as [About] The Purposes of Good and Evil ).[1] The original passage began: Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit (Translation: "Neither is there anyone who loves grief itself since it is grief and thus wants to obtain it"). It is not known exactly when the text acquired its current standard form; it may have been as early as the 1500s[2] (albeit with subsequent minor changes) or as late as the 1960s. The passage was discovered by Richard McClintock, a Latin professor and the Publications Director at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia. He found it by searching for citings of the word 'consectetur' so he could answer a question about it in the graphic design magazine Before & After.
The original version (with the excerpted items highlighted):
- [32] Sed ut perspiciatis, unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam eaque ipsa, quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt, explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem, quia voluptas sit, aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos, qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt, neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum, quia dolor sit, amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt, ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit, qui in ea voluptate velit esse, quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum, qui dolorem eum fugiat, quo voluptas nulla pariatur? [33] At vero eos et accusamus et iusto odio dignissimos ducimus, qui blanditiis praesentium voluptatum deleniti atque corrupti, quos dolores et quas molestias excepturi sint, obcaecati cupiditate non provident, similique sunt in culpa, qui officia deserunt mollitia animi, id est laborum et dolorum fuga. Et harum quidem rerum facilis est et expedita distinctio. Nam libero tempore, cum soluta nobis est eligendi optio, cumque nihil impedit, quo minus id, quod maxime placeat, facere possimus, omnis voluptas assumenda est, omnis dolor repellendus. Temporibus autem quibusdam et aut officiis debitis aut rerum necessitatibus saepe eveniet, ut et voluptates repudiandae sint et molestiae non recusandae. Itaque earum rerum hic tenetur a sapiente delectus, ut aut reiciendis voluptatibus maiores alias consequatur aut perferendis doloribus asperiores repellat.
[change] English translation
Cicero's original text: "…neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla pariatur?"
H. Rackham's 1914 translation: "Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?"
[change] Variations
Many variations on the standard lorem ipsum text exist, some with little resemblance to the original. Other versions have additional letters — such as k, w, and z — that were uncommon or missing in the Latin, and nonsense words such as zzril, takimata, and gubergren added to the original passage to achieve a distribution of letters that more closely approximates English.
Cicero's first Oration against Catiline is sometimes used in type specimens: Quo usque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra? Quam diu etiam furor iste tuus nos eludet? . . .
Today's popular version of lorem ipsum was first created for Aldus Corporation's first desktop publishing program Aldus PageMaker in the mid-1980s for the Apple Macintosh. Art director Laura Perry adapted older forms of the lorem text from typography samples. The text was frequently used in PageMaker templates.
Various pieces of software, including text editors (or plug-in modules for same), can generate semi-random "lorem text" that often has little or nothing in common with the canonical variety, other than looking like (and often being) jumbled Latin. Apple, Inc.'s Pages software, uses this jumbled text as a sample screenplay for their screenplay layout.
[change] Trivia
- In the 2004 novel Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde, the heroine's two-year-old son Friday speaks almost exclusively in lorem ipsum text.
[change] References
- ↑ Description of the "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet" text that appears in Word Help (HTML). Microsoft. Retrieved on 22 March 2007.
- ↑ PSTricks – Grafik für TEX und LATEX (HTML). Retrieved on 22 March 2007.
[change] Other websites
- The Straight Dope — Cecil Adams' explanation of Lorem ipsum.
- Blindtextgenerator.com — Comfortable Text generator in many languages + CSS-formatting
- Text generator in many languages and charsets
- Cicero: de Finibus I — Full text of Cicero's De finibus bonorum et malorum.
