Lorem ipsum

In ​publishing​ and ​graphic design​, ​Lorem ipsum​ is a ​placeholder text​ commonly used to
demonstrate the visual form of a document or a typeface without relying on meaningful content.
Lorem ipsum​ may be used before final ​copy​ is available, but it may also be used to temporarily
replace copy in a process called ​greeking​, which allows designers to consider form without the
meaning of the text influencing the design.
Lorem ipsum​ is typically a corrupted version of ​De finibus bonorum et malorum​, a first-century BC
text by the ​Roman​ statesman and philosopher ​Cicero​, with words altered, added, and removed to
make it nonsensical, improper ​Latin​.
Versions of the ​Lorem ipsum​ text have been used in ​typesetting​ at least since the 1960s, when it
was popularized by advertisements for ​Letraset​ transfer sheets. ​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​ as well.

Example text​[​edit​]
A common form of ​Lorem ipsum​ reads:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing 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.

Source text​[​edit​]
The ​Lorem ipsum​ text is derived from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of Cicero's ​De finibus bonorum
et malorum.​ [1]​
​ [2]​ The physical source may have been the 1914 ​Loeb Classical Library​ edition of ​De
finibus​, where the Latin text, presented on the left-hand (even) pages, breaks off on page 34 with
"​Neque porro quisquam est qui do-​" and continues on page 36 with "​lorem ipsum ...​", suggesting that
the ​galley type​ of that page was mixed up to make the dummy text seen today.​[3]
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 while searching for instances of the Latin word ​consectetur,​ which was rarely used in classical
literature.​[4]​ McClintock first published his discovery in a 1994 letter to the editor of ​Before & After
magazine, contesting the editor's earlier claim that ​Lorem ipsum​ had no meaning.​[5]​[​failed verification​]
The relevant section of Cicero 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:

[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 do​lorem ipsum​, quia ​dolor sit amet consectetur adipisci[ng]​v​elit, sed​ quia non
numquam ​[do] eius mod​i ​tempor​a ​inci[di]dunt, ut labore et dolore magna​m ​aliqua​m quaerat
voluptatem. ​Ut enim ad minim​a ​veniam, quis nostru​m​[d] exercitation​em ​ullam co​rporis suscipit
labori​o​s​am, ​nisi ut aliquid ex ea commod​i ​consequat​ur? ​Quis aute​m vel eum ​iure reprehenderit,​ qui
in​ ea ​voluptate velit esse​, quam nihil molestiae ​c​onsequatur, vel ​illum​, qui ​dolore​m ​eu​m ​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 ​exceptur​i
sint, obcaecat​i ​cupiditat​e ​non pro​v​ident​, similique ​sunt in culpa​, ​qui officia deserunt mollit​ia ​anim​i, ​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…

This is H. Rackham's translation as printed in the Loeb Classical Library edition with underlining
added for the translation of the text found in the example of the ​Lorem ipsum​:[2]
​

[32] But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing of a 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​ 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? [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 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 it 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.

Variations​[​edit​]

A ​Lorem ipsum​ placeholder text was inadvertently published in the Singaporean newspaper ​The Straits
Times​ on 26 April 2014

Lorem ipsum​ passages were popularized on Letraset dry-transfer sheets from the early 1970s,
which were produced to be used by graphic designers for filler text.​[3]​[4]​ ​Aldus Corporation​ created a
version in the mid-1980s for their desktop publishing program ​PageMaker​.[4]
​
A variety of software today can generate semi-random text which looks like jumbled ​Latin​. Apple's
Pages​ and ​Keynote​ software employs such jumbled text as sample screenplay layout. ​Lorem ipsum
is also featured on ​Joomla!​, ​Google Docs​, Google Slides, and ​WordPress​ web content managers.
Microsoft Word​[6]​[7]​ and ​BBEdit​ have a ​Lorem ipsum​ generation feature. Several ​LaTeX​ packages
[8]​[9]
produce ​Lorem ipsum​–style text.​