Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

Lorem ipsum
     
         (Or "{greek}", "greeking", "greeked text") A common
        piece of text used as mock-{content} when testing a given page
        layout or {font}.  The most common bit of greek is:
     
        "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetaur 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.  Duis
        aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse
        cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint
        occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia
        deserunt mollit anim id est laborum."
     
        This continues at length and variously.  This is not really
        Greek, but badly garbled Latin.  It started life as extracted
        phrases from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of Cicero's "De
        Finibus et Malorum" ("The Extremes of Good and Evil"), which
        read:
     
        Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem
        accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque
        ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto
        beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo.  Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem
        quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia
        consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi
        nesciunt.  Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia
        dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non
        numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam
        aliquam quaerat voluptatem.  Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis
        nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam,
        nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur?  Quis autem vel eum
        iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil
        molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo
        voluptas nulla pariatur?
     
        At vero eos et accusamus et iusto odio dignissimos ducimus qui
        blanditiis praesentium voluptatum deleniti atque corrupti quos
        dolores et quas molestias excepturi sint occaecati cupiditate
        non provident, similique sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt
        mollitia animi, id est laborum et dolorum fuga.  Et harum
        quidem rerum facilis est et expedita distinctio.  Nam libero
        tempore, cum soluta nobis est eligendi optio cumque nihil
        impedit quo minus id quod maxime placeat facere possimus,
        omnis voluptas assumenda est, omnis dolor repellendus.
        Temporibus autem quibusdam et aut officiis debitis aut rerum
        necessitatibus saepe eveniet ut et voluptates repudiandae sint
        et molestiae non recusandae.  Itaque earum rerum hic tenetur a
        sapiente delectus, ut aut reiciendis voluptatibus maiores
        alias consequatur aut perferendis doloribus asperiores
        repellat.
     
        Translation:
     
        But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of
        denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give
        you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual
        teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the
        master-builder of human happiness.  No one rejects, dislikes,
        or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because
        those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally
        encounter consequences that are extremely painful.  Nor again
        is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain
        of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally
        circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him
        some great pleasure.  To take a trivial example, which of us
        ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain
        some advantage from it?  But who has any right to find fault
        with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no
        annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces
        no resultant pleasure?
     
        On the other hand, we denounce with righteous indignation and
        dislike men who are so beguiled and demoralized by the charms
        of pleasure of the moment, so blinded by desire, that they
        cannot foresee the pain and trouble that are bound to ensue;
        and equal blame belongs to those who fail in their duty
        through weakness of will, which is the same as saying through
        shrinking from toil and pain.  These cases are perfectly
        simple and easy to distinguish.  In a free hour, when our
        power of choice is untrammelled and when nothing prevents our
        being able to do what we like best, every pleasure is to be
        welcomed and every pain avoided.  But in certain circumstances
        and owing to the claims of duty or the obligations of business
        is will frequently occur that pleasures have to be repudiated
        and annoyances accepted.  The wise man therefore always holds
        in these matters to this principle of selection: he rejects
        pleasures to secure other greater pleasures, or else he
        endures pains to avoid worse pains.
     
        -- Translation by H. Rackham, from his 1914 edition of De
        Finibus.
     
        However, since textual fidelity was unimportant to the goal of
        having {random} text to fill a page, it has degraded over the
        centuries, into "Lorem ipsum...".
     
        The point of using this text, or some other text of incidental
        intelligibility, is that it has a more-or-less normal (for
        English and Latin, at least) distribution of ascenders,
        descenders, and word-lengths, as opposed to just using "abc
        123 abc 123", "Content here content here", or the like.
     
        (2000-04-03)