Lorem ipsum

text (Or "greek", "greeking", "greeked text") A common

piece of text used as mock-content when testing a given page

layout or font. The most common bit of greek is:

"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetaur 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."

This continues at length and variously. This is not really

Greek, but badly garbled Latin. It started life as extracted

phrases from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of Cicero's "De

Finibus et Malorum" ("The Extremes of Good and Evil"), which

read:

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?

At vero eos et accusamus et iusto odio dignissimos ducimus qui

blanditiis praesentium voluptatum deleniti atque corrupti quos

dolores et quas molestias excepturi sint occaecati 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.

Translation:

But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of

denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give

you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual

teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the

master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes,

or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because

those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally

encounter consequences that are extremely painful. 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?

On the other hand, we denounce with righteous indignation and

dislike men who are so beguiled and demoralized by the charms

of pleasure of the moment, so blinded by desire, that they

cannot foresee the pain and trouble that are bound to ensue;

and equal blame belongs to those who fail in their duty

through weakness of will, which is the same as saying through

shrinking from toil and pain. These cases are perfectly

simple and easy to distinguish. In a free hour, when our

power of choice is untrammelled and when nothing prevents our

being able to do what we like best, every pleasure is to be

welcomed and every pain avoided. But in certain circumstances

and owing to the claims of duty or the obligations of business

is will frequently occur that pleasures have to be repudiated

and annoyances accepted. The wise man therefore always holds

in these matters to this principle of selection: he rejects

pleasures to secure other greater pleasures, or else he

endures pains to avoid worse pains.

-- Translation by H. Rackham, from his 1914 edition of De

Finibus.

However, since textual fidelity was unimportant to the goal of

having random text to fill a page, it has degraded over the

centuries, into "Lorem ipsum...".

The point of using this text, or some other text of incidental

intelligibility, is that it has a more-or-less normal (for

English and Latin, at least) distribution of ascenders,

descenders, and word-lengths, as opposed to just using "abc

123 abc 123", "Content here content here", or the like.

(2000-04-03)