Lorem ipsum

{{Short description|Placeholder text used in publishing and graphic design}} {{pp-pc}} {{Italic title}} {{Redirect|Ipsum|the car|Toyota Ipsum}} thumb|300px|right|class=skin-invert-image|alt=An example of the ''Lorem ipsum'' placeholder text on a green and white webpage.|Using ''Lorem ipsum'' to focus attention on graphic elements in a webpage design proposal thumb|right|An example of the ''Lorem ipsum'' placeholder text on a Letraset sample sheet. Date unknown, possibly 1970s.

'''''Lorem ipsum''''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|l|ɔː|.|ɹ|ə|m|_|ˈ|ɪ|p|.|s|ə|m}} {{respell|LOR|əm|_|IP|səm}}) is a dummy or placeholder text commonly used in graphic design, publishing, and web development. It is typically a corrupted version of {{lang|la|De finibus bonorum et malorum}}, a 1st-century BC text by the Roman statesman and philosopher Cicero, with words altered, added, and removed to make it nonsensical and improper Latin. The first two words are the truncation of {{lang|la|dolorem ipsum}} ("pain itself"). ''Lorem ipsum''{{'}}s purpose is to permit a page layout to be designed, independently of the copy that will subsequently populate it, or to demonstrate various fonts of a typeface without meaningful text that could be distracting.

Versions of the ''Lorem ipsum'' text have been used in typesetting since the 1960s, when advertisements for Letraset transfer sheets popularized it.<ref name=Cibois/> ''Lorem ipsum'' was introduced to the digital world in the mid-1980s, when Aldus employed it in graphic and word-processing templates for its desktop publishing program PageMaker. Other popular word processors, including Pages and Microsoft Word, have since adopted ''Lorem ipsum'',<ref name="SDop"/> as have many LaTeX packages,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ctan.org/pkg/lipsum |title=LaTeX lipsum package |access-date=23 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ctan.org/pkg/blindtext |title=LaTeX blind text package |access-date=23 September 2017}}</ref><ref name="ms-212251">{{cite web |title=How to insert sample text into a document in Word |url=http://support.microsoft.com/kb/212251/en-us |website=Microsoft Support |access-date=14 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112094738/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/212251/en-us |archive-date=12 January 2012 |date=18 September 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> web content managers such as Joomla! and WordPress, and CSS libraries such as Semantic UI.

==Example text== A common form of ''Lorem ipsum'' reads: {{Loremipsum|1|<blockquote>|</blockquote>}}

==Source text== The ''Lorem ipsum'' text is derived from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of Cicero's {{lang|la|De finibus bonorum et malorum}}.<ref name="Microsoft">{{cite web |url=http://support.microsoft.com/kb/114222/en-us |title=Description of the "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet" text that appears in Word Help |access-date=2007-03-22 |website=support.microsoft.com}}</ref><ref name="cicero_archive_org">{{cite book|last1=Cicero|first1=Marcus Tullius|last2=Rackham|first2=H.|title=De finibus bonorum et malorum|date=1914|publisher=Macmillan Co.|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/definibusbonoru02cicegoog/page/n72 36] (Book I ix 32)|url=https://archive.org/details/definibusbonoru02cicegoog|language=la, en}}</ref> The physical source may have been the 1914 Loeb Classical Library edition of {{lang|la|De finibus}}, where the Latin text, presented on the left-hand (even) pages, breaks off on page 34 with "{{lang|la|Neque porro quisquam est qui do-}}" and continues on page 36 with "{{lang|la|lorem ipsum{{nbsp}}...}}," suggesting that the galley type of that page was mixed up to make the dummy text seen today.<ref name=Cibois>{{cite journal |title=Lorem ipsum: nouvel état de la question |first=Philippe |last=Cibois |url=https://idm.hypotheses.org/2354 |journal=L'Intelligence du Monde |publisher=L'Institut français |date=2012-06-03 |doi=10.58079/ptrd |access-date=2017-04-07}}</ref>

The discovery of the text's origin is attributed to Richard McClintock, a Latin scholar at Hampden–Sydney College. McClintock connected ''Lorem ipsum'' to Cicero's writing sometime before 1982 by searching for recorded uses of the Latin word {{lang|la|consectetur}}, which was rarely used in classical literature.<ref name="SDop">{{cite web|last=Adams|first=Cecil|title=What does the filler text 'lorem ipsum' mean?|date=February 2001|url=https://www.straightdope.com/21343427/what-does-the-filler-text-lorem-ipsum-mean|publisher=The Straight Dope|access-date=3 June 2022}}</ref> McClintock first published his discovery in a 1994 letter to a ''Before & After'' magazine editor,<ref>''Before & After'' '''4''':2, according to {{cite web |author=Norman Walsh |title=Frequently Asked Questions About Fonts |url=https://nwalsh.com/comp.fonts/FAQ/cf_36.htm |access-date=2023-05-12}}</ref> contesting the editor's earlier claim that ''Lorem ipsum'' had no meaning.<ref name="SDop" />

The sections of ''De finibus bonorum et malorum'' from which ''Lorem ipsum'' ultimately derives is one in which Cicero promotes obtaining pleasure rationally instead of impulsively, in his home city of Cumae between himself and Lucius Manlius Torquatus, a young Epicurean, while another young Roman, Gaius Valerius Triarius, listens on. The relevant sections as printed in the source is reproduced below with fragments used in ''Lorem ipsum'' underlined. Letters in brackets were added to ''Lorem ipsum'' and were not present in the source text:

{{blockquote |[32] {{lang|la|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 do|italic=no}}lorem ipsum, {{lang|la|quia|italic=no}} dolor sit amet consectetur adipisci[ng] velit, sed {{lang|la|quia non numquam|italic=no}} [do] eius modi tempora inci[di]dunt, ut labore et dolore magnam aliqua{{lang|la|m quaerat voluptatem.|italic=no}} Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum[d] exercitation{{lang|la|em|italic=no}} ullam co{{lang|la|rporis suscipit|italic=no}} laborios{{lang|la|am,|italic=no}} nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequat{{lang|la|ur?|italic=no}} [D]Quis aute{{lang|la|m vel eum|italic=no}} i[r]ure reprehenderit, {{lang|la|qui|italic=no}} in {{lang|la|ea|italic=no}} voluptate velit esse, {{lang|la|quam nihil molestiae|italic=no}} c{{lang|la|onsequatur, vel|italic=no}} illum, {{lang|la|qui|italic=no}} dolorem eum fugiat, {{lang|la|quo voluptas|italic=no}} nulla pariatur?

[33] {{lang|la|At vero eos et accusamus et iusto odio dignissimos ducimus, qui blanditiis praesentium voluptatum deleniti atque corrupti, quos dolores et quas molestias|italic=no}} excepturi sint, obcaecati cupiditate non provident, {{lang|la|similique|italic=no}} sunt in culpa, qui officia deserunt mollitia animi, id est laborum {{lang|la|et dolorum fuga|italic=no}}. Et harum quidem reru[d]um facilis est e[r]t 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 repellend[a]us. 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.}}

What follows is an English translation by Harris Rackham as printed in the 1914 Loeb edition, with words at least partially represented in ''Lorem ipsum'' underlined:<ref name="cicero_archive_org"/>

{{blockquote|[32] But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of reprobating pleasure and extolling pain arose. To do so, I will give you a complete account of the system and expound the 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 extremely painful consequences. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but 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? 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?

[33] 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 untrammeled and nothing prevents us from being what we like best, every pleasure is welcomed and every pain avoided. But in certain circumstances and owing to the claims of duty or the obligations of business it will frequently occur that pleasures must 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.}}

==See also== {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * {{Annotated link |Asemic writing}} * {{Annotated link |Etaoin shrdlu}} * {{Annotated link |Gibberish}} * {{Annotated link |Hamburgevons}} * {{Annotated link |Indian-head test pattern}} * {{Annotated link |Lenna}} * {{Annotated link |Li Europan lingues}} * {{Annotated link |Metasyntactic variable}} * {{Annotated link |Pangram}} ** {{Annotated link |The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog}} * {{Annotated link |Shibboleth}} * {{Annotated link |To come (publishing)|"To come"}} * {{Annotated link |Utah teapot}} {{div col end}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Sister project links |b=no |q=no |v=no |n=no |species=no |s=mul:Lorem ipsum}} * The original ''De finibus bonorum et malorum'' (Book 1) from Cicero, on Latin Wikisource

Category:Filler text Category:Latin words and phrases Category:Nonsense Category:Cicero