Monday, February 17, 2014

Lorem ipsum dolor -- in other words, "blah blah blah"

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur 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. 

I had a blast from the past today when I was using a template to construct an email promotional message. I was supposed to fill in the placeholder text with my own customized message.

I learned on wikipedia that this comes from sections 1.10.32–3 of Cicero's De finibus bonorum et malorum (On the Ends of Goods and Evils, or alternatively [About] The Purposes of Good and Evil). The original passage began: Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet consectetur adipisci velit (translation: "Neither is there anyone who loves, pursues or desires pain itself because it is pain"). 

I first became acquainted with it maybe 20 years ago when it was used as placeholder text in graphic design programs. My mom and I used to say "Lorem ipsum" to each other when we meant blah blah blah. (We'd say it under our breath to each other at meetings when someone was droning on and on and try not to crack up.) Today when I am writing drafts and I know I'll need to flesh out a part I just write xxx or blah blah.

But why use blah blah blah when you can use nonsense Latin?

 

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