# Printer's Greek

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/printers-greek/247314>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 27, 2004, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/printers-greek/247314 "2004-05-27T11:34:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/printers-greek/247314/1 "2004-05-27T11:34:42Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

I’m told this is called “printer’s greek” - used as filler when mocking up a publication. Apparantly it is text taken from a copy of _The Extremes of Good and Evil_ by Cicero, written in 45 BC. ([link](http://www.lipsum.com/)) but why/when did it get called greek?

Or is my source mistaken?

Grim

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**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/printers-greek/247314/2 "2004-05-27T12:34:14Z")

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It’s often used as filler to show a layout without actual content. Some desktop publiching packages show just squiggly lines instead of actual text when the point size gets too small. I think the expression is “it’s all Greek to me,” applies.

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**Author:** ![Grimpen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/82dd89/32.png) [@Grimpen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grimpen)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/printers-greek/247314/3 "2004-05-27T12:58:25Z")

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Thank you for posting the “lipsum” link - I hadn’t known the connection to Cicero. One note – not all the text of the example you posted is Latin. Some of it is just garble (for example, “sadipscing elitr” and “kasd gubergren”).  
I think I’ve seen more examples with patches of garble than I have of pure Cicero; looks to me like the text mutates about as fast as fruit flies.

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**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/printers-greek/247314/4 "2004-05-27T13:02:15Z")

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[Cecil covered this](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/010216.html) a couple of years ago and the [subsequent discussion](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=60524) was also worth reading.