Laughing and Grief (was: Translation question)

Raymond Brown wrote:

> And the last word ain't Latin - The Latin _neuter_ cannot possibly, depite
> all the cases, both singular & pural in all three genders, yield _neutron_.
> Thinks: When were neutrons first mentioned?
1920, in a public lecture by the physicist Ernest Rutherford.  Their actual
discovery didn't come until 1932, though.

This Latin sounds like what is technically called "greek": unintelligible
or semi-intelligible text used to fill up space in an advertisement (or,
these days, Web page) layout until the real text is available, or to avoid
distracting layout editors with real copy, or to illustrate a novel font.
Greeked text (in this sense) is often copied from one designer to another,
generating typical manuscript transmission errors like "addius" for "Appius".


Here is a well-known passage of greeked text, variants of which have been
used in typesetting for four centuries.  The opening line in brackets
is from the original source, Cicero 'de Finibus' 1.10.32, and is not part
of the greek.  The Latin is jumbled, but the detail is
fairly well preserved with occasional corruptions and English insertions:

[Neque porro quisquam est qui do-]
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 Et harumd und lookum like Greek to me, dereud
facilis est er expedit distinct. Nam liber te conscient to factor tum
poen legum odioque civiuda. Et tam neque pecun modut est neque nonor et
imper ned libidig met, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed ut labore et
dolore magna aliquam makes one wonder who would ever read this stuff?
Bis nostrud exercitation ullam mmodo consequet. Duis aute in
voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. At vver
eos et accusam dignissum qui blandit est praesent luptatum delenit aigue
excepteur sint occae. Et harumd dereud facilis est er expedit distinct.
Nam libe soluta nobis eligent optio est congue nihil impedit doming id
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, set eiusmod
tempor incidunt et labore et dolore magna aliquam. Ut enim ad minim
veniam, quis nostrud exerc. Irure dolor in reprehend 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 molestaie
cillum. Tia non ob ea soluad incommod quae egen ium improb fugiend.
Officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum Et harumd dereud facilis est
er expedit distinct. Nam liber te conscient to factor tum poen legum
odioque civiuda et tam. Neque pecun modut est neque nonor et imper
ned libidig met, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed ut labore et dolore
magna aliquam is nostrud exercitation ullam mmodo consequet. Duis aute
in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. At vver
eos et accusam dignissum qui blandit est praesent.


Here's a version from a different manuscript tradition, much shorter, found
at the home page of loremipsum.org:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh
euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim
veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea
commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit
esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et
accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis
dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Nam liber tempor cum soluta nobis eleifend option
congue nihil imperdiet doming id quod mazim placerat facer possim assum.


Here's a third witness, obviously related to the second:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy
nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim
ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl
ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie
consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros
et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril
delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.

It then appears twice more, with many variations ("facilisis" for "facilisi",
"consequat" for "onsequat", "voluptat" for "volutpat", etc.)


On the same lines is the horrible mess that Stalky & Co. make of their Latin final
exam when they get a hold of the type, drop it out of the locked form, and
put it back haphazard:  "mutatosque deos flebit in antro", e.g.

--
There is / one art                   || John Cowan <jcowan@...>
no more / no less                    || http://www.reutershealth.com
to do / all things                   || http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
with art- / lessness                 \\ -- Piet Hein