What does the filler text "lorem ipsum" mean?
Dear Cecil:
Cecil, just what the heck does the Latin phrase that starts lorem ipsum mean? I have seen this used as "filler text" for years and have always wondered what it meant. Today I had finally had enough, so I cranked up my favorite search engine and fed it this phrase. You can imagine what I got back thousands of Web pages in various stages of construction. And so I turn to you.
Cecil replies:
This one is deep. Remember etaoin shrdlu? (Maybe you don't. Never mind, a bulletin on the subject is forthcoming.) Remember the Illuminati and fnord? Lorem ipsum is the same deal — one of those inscrutable phrases that just keeps turning up. Surely it means something. Surely it's invested with, you know, mysto power. Lorem ipsum, my children. So mote it be.
Before we go any further I'd better explain what we're talking about. Lorem ipsum is the beginning of a pseudo-Latin passage commonly used as placeholder text when a graphic designer dummies up a page layout. It's intended to show how the type will look before the copy is available. I say pseudo-Latin because though the passage contains recognizable Latin words, they don't seem to add up to anything, and some are just jabberwocky — there's no Latin word lorem, for one thing. Lorem ipsum is only the beginning, by the way. The text continues lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, etc.