Lorem Ipsum is placeholder text used in design when creating content. It helps designers map out the structure of a design/page without relying on copy to be written and approved beforehand. Lorem Ipsum resembles English with a normal distribution of letters, ensuring that the copy does not distract the viewer from the overall design and layout.
The origins of Lorem Ipsum
Lorem Ipsum is derived from the Latin phrase ‘Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet’, which translates to “Nor is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain”.
The text was previously thought to have no meaning, however, in 1982, Richard McClintock discovered the origins of the copy and later published his findings in 1994.
While the text itself is nonsensical due to it being scrambled and interjected with meaningless filler, it originates from a philosophical piece of Latin literature written by Cicero in 45 BC, ‘de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum’ (The Extremes of Good and Evil).
Lorem Ipsum Generator
Today, there are countless Lorem Ipsum generators to produce dummy copy. The built-in Lorem Ipsum generator within Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is a personal favourite. Creating a new HTML document and simply typing lorem20 will generate 20 words of Lorem Ipsum for you. Similar functionality is also built into Microsoft Word by using the function =lorem(2), which generates 2 paragraphs of Lorem Ipsum.
Outside of the classic Lorem Ipsum generators, there are also plenty of comical generators such as Cat Ipsum and Sagan Ipsum which provide you with brilliant lines such as:
“Run at 3am twitch tail in permanent irritation. Find empty spot in cupboard and sleep all day fall asleep upside-down, but bite the neighbor’s bratty kid. Eat fish on floor attack like a vicious monster yet chase little red dot someday it will be mine!”
“Preserve and cherish that pale blue dot a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam something incredible is waiting to be known inconspicuous motes of rock and gas dream of the mind’s eye.”