If you've ever dabbled in web design, publishing, or any form of content creation, you've likely encountered the term “Lorem Ipsum.” This seemingly nonsensical string of Latin has been the go-to placeholder text for designers and developers for decades. But where did it come from, and why is it used so widely?
A Brief History of Lorem Ipsum
The origins of Lorem Ipsum date back to the 16th century, when an unknown printer scrambled a section of text from Cicero's works to create a type specimen book. This text, which starts with “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,” is derived from a piece of classical Latin literature written in 45 BC. Over time, it evolved into a standard dummy text used by printers to showcase typefaces, layouts, and designs without the distraction of meaningful content.
The beauty of Lorem Ipsum lies in its ability to mimic the look and feel of natural language, making it an ideal tool for demonstrating how a page or website will look once the actual content is added. It's not just random text—it's carefully crafted to have a distribution of letters and words that resembles English, without conveying any real meaning.
A New Kind of Filler: Runner Ipsum
At ConciergeWP.com, my main business, we frequently need filler content for the websites we build. For a long time, my go-to was “Bacon Ipsum,” a humorous take on the traditional Lorem Ipsum that filled the void with meaty goodness. But during one of my runs, a new idea struck me and “I said to myself “Adam… there needs to be a Runner Ipsum!”
As soon as I got home, I did what any serial ideation savant would do—I checked the internet, only to find that no such thing existed. The solution was obvious: create it myself!
So, I navigated over to Hover.com and bought a domain, where runners and fitness enthusiasts can now find filler content that's tailor-made for their projects.
Runner Ipsum is has been live for a few months now and it's packed with the kind of lingo and jargon that will make any runner smile. Whether you're building a website, creating a flyer, or just need a laugh, it's the perfect tool to add a little stride to your content.