With roots in classical Latin literature, lorem ipsum has been the print industry's standard dummy text since the 16th century, and it was popularized in the 1960s. It has become the de facto placeholder text in web design, too (as gathering content from clients can often be a frustrating process), and is used in place of meaningful content during the design phase.
Some argue that "real data delivers really effective design," and by using dummy text, you create a domino effect in your design that will have consequences when real content is added. But there are others who believe it can be a useful tool that still has value in the design process.
However you choose to approach content in your web work, the lowly lorem ipsum text has certainly inspired a myriad of similar versions. In this post, we cover the most unique and humorous lorem ipsum text generators available, with a preview of each included.
If there's a text generator you love and use, or if you've built one of your own, please share your links and recommendations with our readers in the comments below.
How about using auto-generated text that will actually make people love your project even more? With Cupcake Ipsum, you can create a sweet, sugar-coated paragraph of text:
"Cupcake ipsum dolor sit. Amet I love liquorice jujubes pudding croissant I love pudding. Apple pie macaroon toffee jujubes pie tart cookie applicake caramels. Halvah macaroon I love lollipop. Wypas I love pudding brownie cheesecake tart jelly-o. Bear claw cookie chocolate bar jujubes toffee."
Picksum Ipsum is a badass text generator that will give you the best lines from some of the biggest Hollywood legends, including Clint Eastwood, Michael Caine, Jim Carrey and Morgan Freeman:
"Excuse me, I'd like to ASS you a few questions. Hey, maybe I will give you a call sometime. Your number still 911? Look at that, it's exactly three seconds before I honk your nose and pull your underwear over your head. We got no food we got no money and our pets heads are falling off! Haaaaaaarry."
Lorizzle generates some "gangsta" dummy text, so your content can look funky fresh while waiting on the approved text:
"Lorizzle ipsum bling bling sit amizzle, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Nizzle sapien velizzle, bling bling volutpat, suscipit , gravida vel, arcu. Check it out hizzle that's the shizzle. We gonna chung erizzle. Fo izzle dolor fo turpis tempizzle tempor. Gangsta boom shackalack mofo et turpizzle. Sizzle izzle tortor. Pellentesque uhuh ... yih!"
For any Samuel L. Jackson devotees, this generator is a must, taking inspiration from his Pulp Fiction character Jules Winnfield:
"Now that there is the Tec-9, a crappy spray gun from South Miami. This gun is advertised as the most popular gun in American crime. Do you believe that shit? It actually says that in the little book that comes with it: the most popular gun in American crime. Like they're actually proud of that shit. "
Fillerati is for the more refined linguist, with dummy text from authors such as Herman Melville (Moby Dick) and Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland). The source for the public domain filler text is provided by Project Gutenberg:
"In connection with this appellative of 'Whalebone whales,' it is of great importance to mention, that however such a nomenclature may be convenient in facilitating allusions to some kind of whales, yet it is in vain to attempt a clear classification of the Leviathan, founded upon either his baleen, or hump, or fin, or teeth."
If you prefer your lorem ipsum a little meatier, then Bacon Ipsum has you covered, providing succulent and tasty dummy text:
"Bacon ipsum dolor sit amet salami jowl corned beef, andouille flank tongue ball tip kielbasa pastrami tri-tip meatloaf short loin beef biltong. Cow bresaola ground round strip steak fatback meatball shoulder leberkas pastrami sausage corned beef t-bone pork belly drumstick."
Inspired by Bacon Ipsum, Tuna Ipsum makes your lorem ipsum text altogether fishier. There is also a free WordPress plugin available to download, which you can use to make your own dummy text generator:
"Moonfish, steelhead, lamprey southern flounder tadpole fish sculpin bigeye, blue-redstripe danio collared dogfish. Smalleye squaretail goldfish arowana butterflyfish pipefish wolf-herring jewel tetra, shiner; gibberfish red velvetfish. Thornyhead yellowfin pike threadsail ayu cutlassfish."
Do you prefer your dummy text meat-free? Then Veggie Ipsum is for you, with a fresh supply of lentils and vegetables:
"Veggies sunt bona vobis, proinde vos postulo esse magis grape pea sprouts horseradish courgette maize spinach prairie turnip jÃcama coriander quandong gourd broccoli seakale gumbo. Parsley corn lentil zucchini radicchio maize burdock avocado sea lettuce. Garbanzo tigernut earthnut pea fennel."
Everyone loves a bit of cheese, so why not add a little fromage to your design mock-ups with this cheese-inspired text generator?
"I love cheese, especially airedale queso. Cheese and biscuits halloumi cauliflower cheese cottage cheese swiss boursin fondue caerphilly. Cow port-salut camembert de normandie macaroni cheese feta who moved my cheese babybel boursin. Red leicester roquefort boursin squirty cheese jarlsberg blue castello caerphilly chalk and cheese. Lancashire."
Zombie Ipsum provides a macabre feast of frightful filler text, which features three versions; regular, lite and 50% more brains:
"Zombie ipsum reversus ab viral inferno, nam rick grimes malum cerebro. De carne lumbering animata corpora quaeritis. Summus brains sit , morbo vel maleficia? De apocalypsi gorger omero undead survivor dictum mauris. Hi mindless mortuis soulless creaturas, imo evil stalking monstra adventus resi dentevil vultus comedat cerebella viventium."
Fillerama provides dummy text based on popular TV shows, including Futurama, Arrested Development, Doctor Who and more, with the markup on the left and the rendered text on the right for easy copying and pasting:
"We'll need to have a look inside you with this camera. Leela's gonna kill me. Eeeee! Now say 'nuclear wessels'! And when we woke up, we had these bodies. I've been there. My folks were always on me to groom myself and wear underpants. What am I, the pope?"
Pommy Ipsum is the "official" lorem ipsum filler text generator of the British Empire, featuring some of the country's best known and loved slang words and phrases:
"Pommy ipsum bent as a nine bob note naff off biscuits nowt, a cuppa unhand me sir hadn't done it in donkey's years sod's law, treacle crumpets oo ecky thump atrocious. Nosh nutter Big Ben punter a cuppa nicked the lakes scally, golly gosh warts and all copped a treacle shepherd's pie easy peasy, round our gaff bag egg's old boy doolally pompous therewith fried toast."
Beer Ipsum is perfect if you're searching for something a little more refreshing, and it's the ideal destination for delicious, malty ipsum text:
"Secondary fermentation degrees plato units of bitterness, cask conditioned ale ibu real ale pint glass craft beer. krausen goblet grainy ibu brewhouse lagering finishing hops. Trappist, black malt chocolate malt balthazar gravity dextrin saccharification trappist final gravity. Aau scotch ale, adjunct. hops bung infusion, cask conditioning pitching malt extract."
Vatican Assassin is a parody of Charlie Sheen, inspired by his meltdown in 2011, and it provides lorem ipsum text "as the Lord intended":
"I just closed my eyes and in a nanosecond I cured myself from this ridiculous model of disease, addiction and obsession. It's just the work of sissies. How complicated can it be? What they're not ready for, is guys like you and I, Nails, and all the other gnarly gnarlingtons in my life, that we are high priests. Vatican assassin warlocks. Boom. Print that, people."
Feeling too mainstream and in desperate need of some dummy text? Of course you are. Hipster Ipsum will take your inner hipster to the next level:
"Est Schlitz shoreditch fashion axe. Messenger bag cupidatat Williamsburg sustainable aliqua, artisan duis pickled pitchfork. Semiotics Banksy ad roof party, jean shorts selvage mollit vero consectetur hashtag before they sold out blue bottle qui nihil aute. Aliquip artisan retro squid ullamco. Vegan enim Williamsburg, eu umami shabby chic single-origin coffee et."
Is your Latin lacking a certain rugged handsomeness? Created to mark Movember, Hairy Ipsum helps you fill in the gaps with some "random hairy lipsum." After all, no project is a blank when it have a luxurious moustache:
"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, Clive dunn rugged et refined gentlemen man markings glorious facial hair smashing good fun glorious facial hair luxurious. Graeme Souness refined gentlemen glorious facial hair man markings luxurious facial hair chevron off-piste goose smashing good fun rugged et kris kristofferson."
This is the perfect lorem ipsum generator for Yorkshire folks, and you can even fork and contribute to it on GitHub:
"Ee by gum. Nobbut a lad. Tha daft apeth. Nobbut a lad nobbut a lad mardy bum any rooad by 'eck. Tell thi summat for nowt soft southern pansy. Where's tha bin ah'll gi' thi summat to rooer abaht tell thi summat for nowt aye. Soft lad t'foot o' our stairs. Big girl's blouse will 'e 'eckerslike nah then is that thine ne'ermind wacken thi sen up."
Here's a lorem ipsum generator based on the works of Joss Whedon, featuring quotes from various Whedon ventures, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Serenity and Dollhouse:
"What, you think this isn't real just because of all the vampires, and demons, and ex-vengeance demons, and the sister that used to be a big ball of universe-destroying energy? It was the pioneer days; people had to make their own interrogation rooms. Out of cornmeal. Frankly, it's ludicrous to have these interlocking bodies and not...interlock."
TV Ipsum generates dummy text from TV theme lyrics, including shows such as Knight Rider. If you like this, you might also appreciate TVIpsum.org.
"No phone, no lights, no motor car, not a single luxury. Like Robinson Crusoe it's primitive as can be. He's gaining' on you so you better look alive. He's busy revin' up his Powerful Mach 5. Straightnin' the curves. Flatnin the hills. Someday the mountain might get 'em but the law never will."
The web loves cats, so what better way to celebrate those cute, furry creatures than to litter your copy with kittens? Combine this with Placekitten for the ultimate feline inspired mockup.
"Cat ipsum dolor sit amet, hunt anything that moves or hopped up on goofballs hide when guests come over. Hide when guests come over intrigued by the shower, or stare at ceiling climb leg for stretch and use lap as chair. Hunt anything that moves flop over, leave dead animals as gifts for chase imaginary bugs, chase mice for stare at ceiling yet hopped up on goofballs."
The Web 2.0 style bubble burst a long time ago, but if you're feeling nostalgic for the days of bevelled buttons, gradients and stickers, then look no further. Web 2.0 Ipsum generates dummy text from nonsensical startup names.
"Webtwo ipsum dolor sit amet, eskobo chumby doostang bebo. Skype dropio spotify dogster voki edmodo etsy knewton gooru dropio zoosk, imvu zapier skype ebay heroku plugg dogster lala chartly. Joyent unigo handango hipmunk chegg movity vimeo zoho imvu skype, geni palantir vimeo trulia twitter bitly divvyshot ning, gsnap napster flickr wufoo blippy joukuu insala edmodo."
This is a lorem ipsum generator for future-of-news enthusiasts, using some of the most common catchphrases and buzzwords of the news crowd:
"Foursquare iPhone app scoop right-sizing HuffPo Romenesko masthead Arab spring, Andy Carvin pay curtain metered model paidContent horse-race coverage engagement CPM, Facebook Storify Instagram Gutenberg CNN leaves it there Robin Sloan. experiment synergize tweet analog thinking tools Alberto Ibarguen Frontline TechCrunch advertising, newspaper."
The Malevole Text Generator is a bizarre and random mix of TV show theme lyrics, ranging from Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds to Hong Kong Phooey:
"One for all and all for one, Muskehounds are always ready. One for all and all for one, helping everybody. One for all and all for one, it's a pretty story. Sharing everything with fun, that's the way to be. One for all and all for one, Muskehounds are always ready. One for all and all for one, helping everybody. One for all and all for one, can sound pretty corny."
The Postmodernism Generator creates completely meaningless, random essays, using the Dada Engine, a system for generating random text from recursive grammars:
"Class is dead, says Foucault; however, according to Reicher, it is not so much class that is dead, but rather the absurdity, and some would say the paradigm, of class. However, the subject is interpolated into a postpatriarchialist dialectic theory that includes consciousness as a totality."
The ultimate dummy text generator for Arrested Development fans, Bluth Ipsum features quotes from the "greatest TV show ever," with an accompanying Twitter feed:
"However, she mistook the drowsy eye alcohol warning for a winking eye alcohol suggestion. Excuse me while I circumvent you. The old reach-around. You need to do more with Rita. Believe me, I'd like to. Did Ted make an appointment? No. Well then Ted can get the hell out of this office! You get the hell out!"
This lorem ipsum generator has some random Bavarian swear words thrown in, so use at your own risk (or amusement):
"Bavaria ipsum dolor sit amet liberalitas Bavariae pfiad de i moan oiwei vasteh ma Spotzerl oha? Habedehre Habedehre Guglhupf, Blosmusi: Glacht es Almrausch an, so. Umananda Leonhardifahrt no a Maß sowos des Enzian zua, Weibaleid vui um Godds wujn."
Busey Ipsum generates text packed with "Buseyisms," designed to alleviate a void in the placeholder text market that only one man's direct quotes can fill Gary Busey:
"I would like to give you a backstage pass to my imagination. This is just common superficiality. Is thats whats so special about a woman? Superficiality with their face colours? The magic Indian is a mysterious spiritual force, and we're going to Cathedral Rock, and that's the vortex of the heart."
Baseball Ipsum is filled with relevant baseball terminology, phrases and words, created by a Cincinnati Reds fan:
"Baseball ipsum dolor sit amet sacrifice fly range sabremetrics sacrifice bunt. Unearned run fenway sacrifice fly screwball baseball card, left on base foul. Pitchout save around the horn batting average win away can of corn slider. Rhubarb fastball team stadium ground ball fair tapper off-speed."
A lorem ipsum generator with Chuck Norris facts what more could you ask for? A "roundhouse kick," perhaps:
"Chuck ipsum. Chuck Norris doesnt need to swallow when eating food. Chuck Norris once kicked a baby elephant into puberty. Chuck Norris roundhouse kick is so powerful, it can be seen from outer space by the naked eye. Chuck Norris does not hunt because the word hunting infers the probability of failure. Chuck Norris goes killing."
"Arr, me hearties," it's a pirate dummy text generator that has been pillaging the high seas of the web since 2011:
"Hearties avast gally jib brigantine scourge of the seven seas hardtack weigh anchor coxswain Gold Road. Yo-ho-ho port driver pillage booty scuttle reef ballast barkadeer hang the jib. Spanker jury mast line weigh anchor yardarm American Main bilge aft jib crow's nest."
Here's a space-themed lorem ipsum generator that lets you choose the number of paragraphs you need:
"For those who have seen the Earth from space, and for the hundreds and perhaps thousands more who will, the experience most certainly changes your perspective. The things that we share in our world are far more valuable than those which divide us."
This is filler text that really ties the room together, for those who can abide like the Dude:
"Lebowski ipsum when will you find these guys? I mean, do you have any promising leads? Hey, relax man, I'm a brother shamus. You might fool the guys in the league office, but you don't fool Jesus! It's all a goddamn fake. Like Lenin said, look for the person who will benefit."
Do you love to cause unnecessary arguments? Then check out Trollem Ipsum, with which you can choose from being an "Apple Fanboy," an "Android Geek" and other online archetypes:
"CrackBerry, in the main gorgeous that so-called iPad killer in my opinion iPhone rip-offs, while profit, consequently MacBook Air is just beautiful in the end battery drain so Android geek, I think Apple will only get better, in addition iTunes makes it easy, another point is that Flash sucks whereas Android is fragmented."
This generator provides placeholder text from the great state of Maine, featuring common New England phrases and words:
"Clam chowdah mugup rhubaahb yut, crunchah yahd bang a left N'Hampshah lobstah paut smokie wintah You is sum wicked suhmart. Hahd tellin' not knowin' Fryeburg Fayah puckahbrush sawr Bangah potatoes gummah, sawr moose rig up clammin' Loyston-Ahban Yessah robin showah rhubaahb out in th' willie-wacks heatah, mugup."
Inspired by the late astronomer Carl Sagan, Sagan Ipsum is a space and cosmos-related dummy text generator:
"Apollonius of Perga extraplanetary. Tingling of the spine. Orion's sword, rich in heavy atoms cosmic ocean astonishment encyclopaedia galactica tesseract two ghostly white figures in coveralls and helmets are soflty dancing, rich in heavy atoms the only home we've ever known how far away."
Inspired by Bacon Ipsum, and a strong passion for skating, Skate Ipsum was born and continues to "shred" mockups to this day:
"Skate ipsum dolor sit amet, masonite opposite footed Spanky rock and roll flypaper boneless street pump. Tuna-flip axle set frigid air Primo slide bail camel back pop shove-it. Ho-ho slam manual skate key tail method air invert. Drop in kingpin opposite footed disaster casper frontside air vert Steve Olson."
Quote Ipsum delivers dummy text in the form of motivational, inspirational or happy quotes, derived from a variety of sources:
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. First we form habits, then they form us. Conquer your bad habits, or they will eventually conquer you. Imagine you only have one year to live. What important things would you be doing? How would you be allotting your time to accomplish the most you could? This exercise is one method of going after your priorities."
This is a Pokémon-inspired text generator that lists all of the characters (and their evolved states) from one of five generations:
"Bulbasaur Ivysaur Venusaur Charmander Charmeleon Charizard Squirtle Wartortle Blastoise Caterpie Metapod Butterfree Weedle Kakuna Beedrill Pidgey Pidgeotto Pidgeot Rattata Raticate Spearow Fearow Ekans Arbok Pikachu Raichu Sandshrew Sandslash Nidoran Nidorina Nidoqueen Nidoran Nidorino Nidoking Clefairy Clefable Vulpix Ninetales."
Calling itself "the most presidential lorem ipsum in history," Obama Ipsum is packed with key turns of phrase and rhetoric:
"I stand here today, grateful for the diversity of my heritage, aware that my parents' dreams live on in my two precious daughters. Because the Iraq war is not just a security problem, it's a moral problem. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition."
If Obama Ipsum exists, there also has to be Romney Ipsum, with which you can generate your own "Mitt sense":
"That's the America I love. I believe in an America where millions of Americans believe in an America that's the America millions of Americans believe in. I have some great friends who are Nascar team owners. I tasted a beer and tried a cigarette once as a wayward teenager. I never did it again. I like the Twilight series. I thought that was fun."
For the ultimate fashionista, Fashion Ipsum generates lists of the must-have haute couture clothing and labels:
"Pastels Céline leggings leather shorts Saint Laurent beanie street style Fjallraven. Motif skirt strong eyebrows Choupette printed jacket grunge white chambray shirt denim. Colette chunky sole loafers trouser surf pop Prada backpack washed out statement Bag 'N' Noun silver collar. Rope necklace oversized A.P.C. rose gold knitwear capsule Raf Simons."
Created as an homage to "Number One" William Thomas Riker of the Star Trek Enterprise, this lorem ipsum generator uses quotes from The Next Generation to create dummy text for your project:
"You bet I'm agitated! I may be surrounded by insanity, but I am not insane. Damage report! Maybe if we felt any human loss as keenly as we feel one of those close to us, human history would be far less bloody. We know you're dealing in stolen ore. But I wanna talk about the assassination attempt on Lieutenant Worf."
Corporate Ipsum is a dummy text generator designed to facilitate the needs of corporate paper-pushers everywhere:
"Collaboratively administrate empowered markets via plug-and-play networks. Dynamically procrastinate B2C users after installed base benefits. Dramatically visualize customer directed convergence without revolutionary ROI. Efficiently unleash cross-media information without cross-media value."
Gag Ipsum will help you generate lorem ipsum like a true gentleman (or maybe a frat boy, we're not really sure), allowing you to say goodbye to boring dummy text for good:
"Woman weekend bart alcohol no bad always tank students meme grin. Homer luke 140% dummies le me puking rainbows nerd female. OH GOD WHY fun amnesia search russia scumbag angry birds simpson. Nyan cat gentlemen final week bacon food architect love no jackie chan good guy."
For any fans of comics and graphic novels, this is the ultimate text generator tool, with snippets from some of the most famous comic books and characters:
"Nightwing anti-venom. Century cable hellboy deadpool emma frost thundra feral, animal man shriek cloak. Morph, shadow king, pyro cyborg superman kitty pride big barda, colin wagner. Match jolt exodus space ghost sasquatch justice master chief jennifer kale azazel steel zoom beetle light lass anti-spawn ego."
Dalek Ipsum gives you placeholder text that has been mercilessly crafted by the children of Skaro, ready to terminate anything that stands in its way:
"Time War Geronimo Dalekanium Demon's Run Cult of Skaro ninehundred Allons-y, Alonso! Bow ties are cool You will be exterminated! Time War Donna Noble I really hate stairs. EXTERMINATE ALL STAIRCASES! EXTERMINATE! Time War Dalekanium."
This is a Back to the Future-inspired lorem ipsum generator that uses quotes from the film as dummy text:
"You got a real attitude problem, McFly. You're a slacker. You remind me of you father when he went her, he was a slacker too. Hey guys, you gotta get back in there and finish the dance. Oh, then I wanna give her a call, I don't want her to worry about you. Yeah, I think maybe you do."
Use the Swearem Ipsum generator to create paragraphs of pure swear words. You can also choose to use Latin with sporadic swear words, or the "filmdub" version (for those with a more sensitive disposition):
"Vestibulum mollis pellentesque hendrerit. Sed faucibus venenatis accumsan. Quisque ut gravida metus. Nam sed neque magna, in fermentum ligula. Praesent a diam tincidunt odio twat consequat. Phasellus aliquam justo at arcu gravida porttitor."
Bogan Ipsum has a distinctly Australian tone, and it produces a random sequence of over-the-top Aussie phrases:
"We're going strewth when lets throw a truckie. He hasn't got a moolah flamin lets get some postie. Lets get some dropkick no worries as stands out like freckle. It'll be chuck a yewy flamin lets get some yabber. As busy as a turps as busy as a lippy."
Arnold Ipsum is a simple lorem ipsum generator with Arnold Schwarzenegger quotes:
"Arnold ipsum. Bring your toy back to the carpet. Bring it back to the carpet. Traffic. It's just a scratch. Get down. I'm not a pervert. I was just looking for Turboman doll. Fugettit, I'm not going to sit on your lap. You got what you want. Give these people air. I've seen you before."
Startup Ipsum provides product-driven placeholder text for your startup or side project:
"Lorem lean startup ipsum product market fit customer development acquihire technical cofounder. User engagement A/B testing shrink a market venture capital pitch deck. Social bookmarking group buying crowded market pivot onboarding freemium prototype ping pong."
Here's a Downton Abbey-inspired lorem ipsum text generator featuring quotes and storylines from the show:
"Duke of Crowborough muttered, 'Why hasn't he done anything? He's had the story and the witnesses.' The village denied London. Christmas repulsed a poor man. Duke of Crowborough let go the village. The housemail admired Highclere Castle."
Created out of a love for the TV show Breaking Bad, Heisenberg Ipsum allows you to choose your own character from the series and generate text from their quotes:
"A business big enough that it could be listed on the NASDAQ goes belly up. Disappears! It ceases to exist without me. No, you clearly don't know who you're talking to, so let me clue you in. I am not in danger, Skyler. I AM the danger!"
You only lorem once, so it's time to choose some dummy text with swagger. Yolo Ipsum has you covered:
"Aliquam getting paid well holla whenever that stop, sometimes I wish the same quia fuga et voluptate. Sit ut suscipit fugit dolores tempora beatae. Voluptatem and that's when she text me. I'll be there for you, I will care for you you already know though hic voluptatem eaque quia."
Kiwi Ipsum is a Kiwiana-inspired lorem ipsum text generator, created with New Zealand in mind:
"Kia ora.. Morningside for life, this stoked housie is as nuclear-free as a chronic sheila. Mean while, in Hamilton, Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy and Uncle Bully were up to no good with a bunch of good as milks. The pretty suss force of his playing rugby was on par with Spot."
For every dedicated Game of Thrones fan, Hodor Ipsum is the perfect dummy text generator, featuring his one and only phrase:
"Hodor! Hodor hodor, hodor hodor hodor? Hodor! Hodor hodor, hodor hodor hodor? Hodor! Hodor hodor, hodor; hodor hodor hodor hodor? Hodor, hodor... Hodor hodor hodor? Hodor hodor HODOR! Hodor hodor... Hodor hodor hodor."
Mashable composite: image via iStockphoto, foodandwinephotography
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