Lorem Ipsum, often used in design and publishing, is a placeholder text derived from sections of Cicero's work, "De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum" (The Extremes of Good and Evil). It has been the industry's standard dummy text since the 1500s.
But why use Lorem Ipsum? It's not just random text. Its roots in a piece of classical Latin literature give it a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, making it look like readable English. This characteristic helps designers focus on visual elements rather than getting distracted by the content.
Interestingly, Lorem Ipsum has survived not only five centuries but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularized in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker.
Here's a fun fact: The passage "Lorem Ipsum" comes from a section in "De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum" that discusses a theory of ethics that was very popular during the Renaissance. The first line of Lorem Ipsum, "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet..", comes from a line in section 1.10.32.
Next time you see this familiar text, remember the rich history and purpose behind these jumbled Latin words. They are not just filling space but preserving a piece of literary history and assisting designers in creating visually harmonious layouts.
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