# What is all this weird pseudo Latin? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 17, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-all-this-weird-pseudo-latin/725461 "2015-07-17T22:01:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ArztWolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@ArztWolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArztWolf)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-all-this-weird-pseudo-latin/725461/1 "2015-07-17T22:01:40Z")
I clicked on a smillie on another forum to move it and the Image Properties box popped up. The “Preview” box was full of weird Latin like writing. Here’s a pic I took of it with my phone (computer couldn’t do a screen capture of it for some reason). [https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/522/19757058426\_d4e70eb582\_h.jpg](https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/522/19757058426_d4e70eb582_h.jpg) Here’s the text: > [@](#): > > Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Maecenas feugiat consequat diam. Maecenas metus. Vivamus diam purus, cursus a, commodo non, facilisis vitae, nulla. Aenean dictum lacinia tortor. Nunc iaculis, nibh non iaculis aliquam, orci felis euismod neque, sed ornare massa mauris sed velit. Nulla pretium mi et risus. Fusce mi pede, tempor id, cursus ac, ullamcorper nec, enim. Sed tortor. Curabitur molestie. Duis velit augue, condimentum at, ultrices a, luctus ut, orci. Donec pellentesque egestas eros. Integer cursus, augue in cursus faucibus, eros pede bibendum sem, in tempus tellus justo quis ligula. Etiam eget tortor. Vestibulum rutrum, est ut placerat elementum, lectus nisl aliquam velit, tempor aliquam eros nunc nonummy metus. In eros metus, gravida a, gravida sed, lobortis id, turpis. Ut ultrices, ipsum at venenatis fringilla, sem nulla lacinia tellus, eget aliquet turpis mauris non enim. Nam turpis. Suspendisse lacinia. Curabitur ac tortor ut ipsum egestas elementum. Nunc imperdiet gravida mauris. and here’s the translation from Google Translate. > [@](#): > > Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Maecenas eu diam. Maecenas fear. Diam live pure, cursus a, please do not, consectetuer adipiscing vitae, nulla. Aeneas said skirt temperature. Now targeted, nibh not targeted some of them, nor Lorem Vestibulum Performance, but ornare mass of sed velit. No, my money and laughter. Fusce mi pede, tempor id, and of course, ullamcorper nec, for example. But temperature. Chat employee. Duis velit propaganda, condimentum at, ultrices a, mourning that, bored. Until pellentesque poverty eros. Integer cursus, looks like in the course of the throat, eros pede drink sem, for the time of the earth just man will one Rights Reserved. Even functional temperature. Vestibulum makeup, is that the element of real estate, lectus players any movie she wants, tempor a now porta et eros. In eros by fear, is a pregnant, pregnant, but, lobortis id, turpis. Ut ultrices, ipsum at venenatis fringilla, sem nulla the skirt of the earth, for it is not Mauris eget aliquet turpis. For high school. Stress skirt. Poverty, and the temperature as the very element of chat. Now financing pregnant Mauris. ```php ``` ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-all-this-weird-pseudo-latin/725461/2 "2015-07-17T22:06:50Z")
The master [speaks](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2290/what-does-the-filler-text-lorem-ipsum-mean). ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-all-this-weird-pseudo-latin/725461/3 "2015-07-17T22:20:57Z")
Create your own - [ul] [li][Lorem Ipsum - All the facts - Lipsum generator](http://www.lipsum.com/%5B/li%5D%5Bli%5Dhttp://generator.lorem-ipsum.info/%5B/li%5D%5Bli%5Dhttp://www.blindtextgenerator.com/lorem-ipsum) (with options)[/li][li][http://www.ipsum-generator.com/[/li][li]https://baconipsum.com/](http://www.ipsum-generator.com/%5B/li%5D%5Bli%5Dhttps://baconipsum.com/) (Bacon Lovers version)[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-all-this-weird-pseudo-latin/725461/4 "2015-07-17T23:10:00Z")
Actually, it’s [Greek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greeking)! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-all-this-weird-pseudo-latin/725461/5 "2015-07-17T23:27:08Z")
I’m sure the links have it, but “lorem ipsum dolor …” is just dummy mock-up text that’s used by designers in place of real text. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-all-this-weird-pseudo-latin/725461/6 "2015-07-17T23:45:40Z")
I just attended a video meeting today about our company’s new website, and the demo used dummy text generated by something called “Cupcake Ipsum” that was loaded with the names of various sugary confections. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2015, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-all-this-weird-pseudo-latin/725461/7 "2015-07-18T01:46:10Z")
You can put it into any Word document by typing =lorem() at the beginning of any line. =rand() will add three paragraphs of random English text. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2015, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-all-this-weird-pseudo-latin/725461/8 "2015-07-18T01:51:22Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > You can put it into any Word document by typing =lorem() at the beginning of any line. > > =rand() will add three paragraphs of random English text. That’s pretty cool. I never knew that. The lorem one doesn’t work for me, but “=rand()” gives me a bunch of “quick brown fox…” lines. Neat. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2015, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-all-this-weird-pseudo-latin/725461/9 "2015-07-18T02:19:32Z")
My favorite pseudo Latin is: _In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni._ You can find this all over the Internet these days, but I first saw it circa 1972, from a college buddy back then, long before the Internet was widely available. This is allegedly the Devil’s response to the question posed by Sir Thomas Aquinas: “Just what to you do in Hell anyway?” and supposedly means “We gather in the night and are consumed by fire.” Note that it’s also a palindrome. I showed it to a college professor once. He took it to a Latin professor over in the Language Arts department. The word I got back was, the Latin professor declared it to be unintelligible gibberish. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2015, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-all-this-weird-pseudo-latin/725461/10 "2015-07-18T02:43:58Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > > [@RealityChuck](#): > > > > You can put it into any Word document by typing =lorem() at the beginning of any line. > > > > =rand() will add three paragraphs of random English text. > > That’s pretty cool. I never knew that. The lorem one doesn’t work for me, but “=rand()” gives me a bunch of “quick brown fox…” lines. Neat. I’m going to have to remember that. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2015, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-all-this-weird-pseudo-latin/725461/11 "2015-07-18T05:57:27Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > My favorite pseudo Latin is: > _In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni._ > You can find this all over the Internet these days, but I first saw it circa 1972, from a college buddy back then, long before the Internet was widely available. > > This is allegedly the Devil’s response to the question posed by Sir Thomas Aquinas: “Just what to you do in Hell anyway?” and supposedly means “We gather in the night and are consumed by fire.” Note that it’s also a palindrome. > > I showed it to a college professor once. He took it to a Latin professor over in the Language Arts department. The word I got back was, the Latin professor declared it to be unintelligible gibberish. It’s only partially gibberish. “Girum” does not appear to be a legitimate classical latin word, and is presumably of medieval origin possibly back-formed from Italian “giro” which descended from the Latin that gives us “gyre”. It may have been in use in common speech, but is not attested to in literature outside of that quote. If Italian “giro” came from a legitimate Latin word, it would be from girus, and girum would be accusative. “In” + Accusative in Latin = “Into” in English. “Nocte” is ablative of “night” meaning “with respect to/by means of the night” in general, but “at night” would also be a reasonable translation. The rest of the sentence appears fine; “imus” is 1st person plural of “to go”, et = and, “consumimur” is 1st person plural passive and can mean “to consume”, and “igni” is ablative of “fire”. So we have “We go into the gyre at night and are consumed by fire”. It might be fairly meaningless, but it seems more intelligible than the [stupid line about Arepo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sator_Square), which requires you know that Arepo is a name. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2015, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-all-this-weird-pseudo-latin/725461/12 "2015-07-18T06:20:01Z")
[Giro and gyre](http://www.larousse.com/es/diccionarios/italiano-ingles/giro/17673) don’t quite seem to be translations of each other. I’ve encountered _giro_ used to mean “more or less , thereabouts” both to refer to time and space, as well as “surrounding”, “all around” and “all over”. Someone agrees to meet with you _giro la piazza_, it means “search for me in the neighborhood of the square”; they tell you there will be people _giro la piazza_ and it may mean that there will be some people there or that the square and its surroundings will be jam-packed. A possible translation matching Larousse’s 8 and the Italian usages could be “all through the Night we are consumed by Fire”. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2015, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-all-this-weird-pseudo-latin/725461/13 "2015-07-18T06:21:10Z")
[Here’s more information about the Devil’s line.](http://web.archive.org/web/20150530092407/http://williambader.com/ingirum.html) Here’s the interesting part: > [@](#): > > _girum_ is hard to translate. It can be taken as the accusative singular form of the noun _girus_, but the catch is that _girus_ was not a commonly used word in classic Latin. _gyrus_ is a second declension masculine noun meaning circle, cycle, ring, orbit, or course. The derived _giro_ in Italian means tour, turn, or circle. In current Italian, “andare in giro” means “to go around without a precise intention or direction”. Spanish splits the meanings into _gira_ for tour and _giro_ for turn. (“Sunflower” in Spanish is _girasol_.) Since _in_ followed by the accusative means “into”, the desired meaning of _girum_ is probably “circle”. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2015, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-all-this-weird-pseudo-latin/725461/14 "2015-07-18T06:46:29Z")
The _gira_ in _girasol_ is a verbal form, from _girar_ (to go around, turn around or go in circles) - a sunflower’s turn is kind of the opposite of a _gira_, as _giros_ go. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2015, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-all-this-weird-pseudo-latin/725461/15 "2015-07-18T07:05:09Z")
When I started out making websites for clients, I’d put in some text that may have been the kind of thing their website might use - and half the time it ended up in the finished product even though it wasn’t my job to write the copy; I didn’t know what the heck I was talking about. Ever since then I’ve used Lorem Ipsum text, so that it’s blatantly obvious to the client that it needs to be written up by their team, not me. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2015, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-all-this-weird-pseudo-latin/725461/16 "2015-07-18T08:59:38Z")
It never occurred to me that _In girum…_ might be an actual Latin or Latin-like palindrome of ancient construction. I always just thought it was some relatively modern invention, by some modern who wanted to make up a Latin palindrome, and this is what he came up with. And came up with a contrived backstory too about Aquinas. Either way, one can understand that it might be necessary to play fast and loose with the grammar and word forms to contrive a palindrome. Are we actually to believe that this palindrome has been around since antiquity (or at least for some long long time)? I never knew that _Arepo_ square was of genuine ancient origin either. Likewise, I always thought it was some modern invention that someone wrote in a book and made it to look ancient. But that Wiki page shows many photos of it that seem to be ancient. Or that whole thing just a big whoosh? ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-all-this-weird-pseudo-latin/725461/17 "2015-07-20T02:27:16Z")
The Sator square has definitely been around a long time - at least one has been found in the ruins of Pompeii. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-all-this-weird-pseudo-latin/725461/18 "2015-07-20T02:45:59Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > When I started out making websites for clients, I’d put in some text that may have been the kind of thing their website might use - and half the time it ended up in the finished product even though it wasn’t my job to write the copy; I didn’t know what the heck I was talking about. > > Ever since then I’ve used Lorem Ipsum text, so that it’s blatantly obvious to the client that it needs to be written up by their team, not me. Yeppers. It is just place-holder text until replaced by actual content. I never took the time to read what was actually said. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-all-this-weird-pseudo-latin/725461/19 "2015-07-20T02:53:37Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > When I started out making websites for clients, I’d put in some text that may have been the kind of thing their website might use - and half the time it ended up in the finished product even though it wasn’t my job to write the copy; I didn’t know what the heck I was talking about. > > Ever since then I’ve used Lorem Ipsum text, so that it’s blatantly obvious to the client that it needs to be written up by their team, not me. Ha! Glad to know this happens to other people, too. One client even ended up doing a whole ad campaign around a dummy ad I made for one spot on their site. “Lorem ipsum” is good, it saves people from themselves. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-all-this-weird-pseudo-latin/725461/20 "2015-07-20T03:31:26Z")
If you prefer something more modern, there’s [http://loremgibson.com/](http://loremgibson.com/) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-all-this-weird-pseudo-latin/725461.md?page=2)