What is Lorem Ipsum and Why Do I See It All Over the Place?
In publishing and graphic design, lorem ipsum[p][1][2] is placeholder text (filler text) commonly used to demonstrate the graphic elements of a document or visual presentation, such as font, typography, and layout. The lorem ipsum text is typically a section of a Latin text by Cicero with words altered, added and removed that make it nonsensical in meaning and not proper Latin.[1][2] A close English translation of the words lorem ipsum might be "pain itself" (dolorem = pain, grief, misery, suffering; ipsum = itself).
Even though "lorem ipsum" often arouses curiosity because of its resemblance to classical Latin, it is not intended to have meaning. Where text is comprehensible in a document, people tend to focus on the textual content rather than upon overall presentation, so publishers use lorem ipsum when displaying a typeface or design elements and page layout in order to direct the focus to the publication style and not the meaning of the text.[2] In spite of its basis in Latin, use of lorem ipsum is often referred to as greeking, from the phrase "it's all Greek to me" which indicates that this is not meant to be readable text
Our Development Process
The last thing we do when we develop a site is add the content. Therefore, during development we often use "Lorem ipsum" to show where content goes and to check fonts and text colors.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Maecenas elementum odio nec felis. Proin lacinia augue non pede. Donec vitae nisi a eros congue laoreet. Sed nisi velit, pharetra a, adipiscing eget, cursus vel, velit. Cras leo libero, rutrum ut, varius sed, auctor sodales, risus. Mauris tristique. Maecenas aliquam, sem sed tempus dapibus, velit metus interdum dolor, quis convallis dolor massa non ligula. In vel leo. Etiam metus dolor, feugiat nec, euismod vel, volutpat et, mi. Fusce elit. Nulla facilisi. Vivamus accumsan, est in varius fermentum, lacus dolor facilisis leo, vel sodales nunc odio sit amet lectus. Etiam sed tellus nec lorem malesuada faucibus. Aenean suscipit, urna id sodales placerat, risus pede sodales est, eget faucibus lectus neque vel purus.
Etiam luctus lectus eget sapien. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos hymenaeos. Integer accumsan vulputate dolor. Quisque bibendum pede sit amet ligula. Nullam cursus sapien ut arcu. Nam magna. Maecenas sagittis risus a orci. Etiam interdum, elit eget mollis tempus, mi velit porta lorem, non lobortis velit massa nec arcu. Etiam lacinia augue id justo. Sed quis purus non sem congue pellentesque. Nam sodales. In molestie mi vel neque. Pellentesque sed diam a enim placerat feugiat. Suspendisse potenti. Proin sed odio vel mi volutpat semper. Suspendisse elementum, ipsum faucibus molestie interdum, pede est iaculis tortor, et sollicitudin est diam eget nunc. Donec venenatis. Duis diam. Etiam gravida est eu ligula. In ultrices iaculis metus.
etaoin shrdlu
The first two columns of keys in a linotype machine are: e, t, a, o, i, n; and s, h, r, d, l, u. A Linotype operator would often deal with a typing error by running the fingers down these two rows, thus filling out the line with the nonsense words etaoin shrdlu. This is known as a run down. It is often quicker to cast a bad slug than to hand-correct the line within the assembler. The slug with the run down is removed once it has been cast, or by the proofreader.
Sometimes the proofreader would miss the run down type and thus etaoin shrdlu would appear in print, often at the end of a line. So, if you are reading an older book or newspaper and you see "etaoin shrdlu", you will know that it was typeset using a hot lead Linotype™ machine and that the proofreader failed to catch the correction.