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)