I understand perfectly. Arlo isn’t really listening. Janis’ words are just filling in aural space as far as he is concerned. Lots of husband reach that stage.
Of course, I haven’t. I concentrate on and absorb every word my wife says. Really, dear, I do.
I understand it. It’s called "Greeking. It’s from the lost world of physical typesetting wherein random seeming “Greek” words would be used to fill in page layouts for evaluation when the final text content was not yet available.
From Microsoft: "The phrase “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetuer” appears in Microsoft Word online Help. This phrase has the appearance of an intelligent Latin idiom. Actually, it is nonsense. Although the phrase is nonsense, it does have a long history. The phrase has been used for several centuries by typographers to show the most distinctive features of their fonts. It is used because the letters involved and the letter spacing in those combinations reveal, at their best, the weight, design, and other important features of the typeface."
Ut wisi enim aminim veniam quis nostrud exerci tation ullam Ret iusto odio nissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zril delenit augue duis dolore. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nmy nibismod. Tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna quam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam quis exercitation corper suscipit lobortis. Of course. We all understand every word she said.
“Although the phrase is nonsense, it does have a long history. The phrase has been used for several centuries by typographers to show the most distinctive features of their fonts. It is used because the letters involved and the letter spacing in those combinations reveal, at their best, the weight, design, and other important features of the typeface.
“A 1994 issue of “Before & After” magazine traces “Lorem ipsum …” to a jumbled Latin version of a passage from de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum, a treatise on the theory of ethics written by Cicero in 45 B.C. The passage “Lorem ipsum …” is taken from text that reads, “Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit …,” which translates as, “There is no one who loves pain itself, who seeks after it and wants to have it, simply because it is pain…”
“During the 1500s, a printer adapted Cicero’s text to develop a page of type samples. Since then, the Latin-like text has been the printing industry’s standard for fake, or dummy, text. Before electronic publishing, graphic designers had to mock up layouts by drawing in squiggled lines to indicate text. The advent of self-adhesive sheets preprinted with “Lorem ipsum” gave a more realistic way to indicate where text would go on a page."
I think others may be right in saying the text represents that Arlo doesn’t really listen, but it may also suggest that Jimmy is at a loss for real dialog this morning!
My wife likes to talk to the floor, in another room, and get upset when I don’t understand. Of course, I have to go to wherever she is and ask her to repeat herself, she won’t come to me.
The joke is the words are “funny text”. When graphic designers put together brochures and such, but don’t have the proper text yet, they drop in Latin “funny text” to show what it will look like when finished. Here it’s automatically “funny”.
The much-used Lorem Ipsum text is made of snippets extracted from a Cicero quote and according to Wikipedia it means ""Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure." Small wonder Arlo’s mind is wandering off!
Should read “Dolorem” for the first word which is “pain”. From Cicero and is from a commentary about why no one except a few appreciate pain. Today the phrase is typographer’s gibberish used to show off a font’s appearance. I recall the gibberish was in WordPerfect advertisments to show what it’s typsetting looked like back when they were in Orem, Utah (1980’s).
Either testing to see if the spouse gets it (unlikely due to the last frame) or testing us to see if we get the joke of a dummy text used for laying out text. https://loremipsum.io/
I have a different take. Jimmy has a penchant (talent?) for presenting strips that make it to the CIDU (Comics I Don’t Understand) web site. The double “gag” is that, while no one is expected to understand the gibberish text, Jimmy gets a CIDU by and while making it overt in the last panel.
Something like that. Actually, I get it. I think… ;o)
Well, yeah, nobody’s gonna understand that. They haven’t taught latin in public schools for over fifty years. They’d rather waste the taxpayer’s dollars on things like new new math and mission and vision statements, rather than, say, actually teaching the kids anything.
Nor is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. (by Cicero)
Sometimes finding someone that has escaped learning common knowledge is funny in itself. Someone was leaving for a long drive back home after New Year’s holiday and their engine didn’t sound right. I stopped them and we checked the oil, which was low. We got some oil and he said: “What do I do with this?”
Thanks for reminding me that I am a dinosaur! This is what we called Greeking in the commercial art business…long before computers it was rubbed down to indicate where copy was to be inserted! I just found a ton of in an old supply cabinet…and it’s still good after 30 years!
I’m having difficulty with this myself: I thought at first a recipe, but it discusses “vitality, the time of labor and in pain, but some important things to do….” some a of the words when taken as passages do not properly translate to English. So is it a subtle jab at the readers acceptance that we cannot understand Janis’ comment?
9th and 10th grade Latin was way too long ago, but something about a lot of pain and work and time. Maybe the effort put into thinking up the strip for the day.
“If you’ve ever used a layout program, you may be familiar with lorem ipsum, the block of dummy text traditionally used in page mock-ups to demonstrate how the finished product will look. The text looks vaguely Latin, and usually begins with the phrase “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet…” before spinning off into any one of several variations."Alex Eichler in The Atlantic Technology section
It is what typesetters used to “test print” a page in a novel. Read about it in the “Thursday Next” books…her 2 yr. old son spoke “Loren Ipsum….”…..lol!!!!!!!
Jefano Premium Member almost 6 years ago
http://www.openculture.com/2015/03/the-story-of-lorem-ipsum.html
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorem_ipsum
SpacedInvader Premium Member almost 6 years ago
Just make up your own text. Maybe the actual contents will be added tomorrow.
Dirty Dragon almost 6 years ago
Sample comic, faux Latin text to illustrate where the text is supposed to go?
Robin Harwood almost 6 years ago
I understand perfectly. Arlo isn’t really listening. Janis’ words are just filling in aural space as far as he is concerned. Lots of husband reach that stage.
Of course, I haven’t. I concentrate on and absorb every word my wife says. Really, dear, I do.
williampicts1 Premium Member almost 6 years ago
If this helps https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorem_ipsum
Anathema Premium Member almost 6 years ago
It’s all Latin to me.
Darwin7848 Premium Member almost 6 years ago
I understand it. It’s called "Greeking. It’s from the lost world of physical typesetting wherein random seeming “Greek” words would be used to fill in page layouts for evaluation when the final text content was not yet available.
bignatefan almost 6 years ago
From Microsoft: "The phrase “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetuer” appears in Microsoft Word online Help. This phrase has the appearance of an intelligent Latin idiom. Actually, it is nonsense. Although the phrase is nonsense, it does have a long history. The phrase has been used for several centuries by typographers to show the most distinctive features of their fonts. It is used because the letters involved and the letter spacing in those combinations reveal, at their best, the weight, design, and other important features of the typeface."
Your welcome.
giancarlo.bellumori almost 6 years ago
ohhh… thanks from Rome!
Little Caesar almost 6 years ago
“O feely me boney belly, dominus vobiscum, billy sell all his dominoes….”
James Wolfenstein almost 6 years ago
I do. It’s gibberish used to fill space on print samples.
Grace Premium Member almost 6 years ago
My nephew is a Latin teacher :) He told me that it’s nonsense used to fill pages while they are setting them up.
K McKay almost 6 years ago
Ut wisi enim aminim veniam quis nostrud exerci tation ullam Ret iusto odio nissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zril delenit augue duis dolore. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nmy nibismod. Tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna quam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam quis exercitation corper suscipit lobortis. Of course. We all understand every word she said.
Skeptical Meg almost 6 years ago
Hmm. It’s Greek to me.
Cozmik Cowboy almost 6 years ago
Illegitimi non carborundum.
Justanolddude Premium Member almost 6 years ago
I just wanted to read the comics and drink my coffee, but NO. Here I am doing research at 6:50am. good one.
someotherotherguy almost 6 years ago
It’s the music, not the words. Just hum along and nod.
Stuart Donaldson Premium Member almost 6 years ago
etaoin shrdlu
Charles Phipps Premium Member almost 6 years ago
From the Three Stooges meet Hercules: It may be Latin, but it’s Greek to me.
joedon2007 almost 6 years ago
This early in the AM – Just a simple comic plz.
axe-grinder almost 6 years ago
The power of Google!:
“Although the phrase is nonsense, it does have a long history. The phrase has been used for several centuries by typographers to show the most distinctive features of their fonts. It is used because the letters involved and the letter spacing in those combinations reveal, at their best, the weight, design, and other important features of the typeface.
“A 1994 issue of “Before & After” magazine traces “Lorem ipsum …” to a jumbled Latin version of a passage from de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum, a treatise on the theory of ethics written by Cicero in 45 B.C. The passage “Lorem ipsum …” is taken from text that reads, “Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit …,” which translates as, “There is no one who loves pain itself, who seeks after it and wants to have it, simply because it is pain…”
“During the 1500s, a printer adapted Cicero’s text to develop a page of type samples. Since then, the Latin-like text has been the printing industry’s standard for fake, or dummy, text. Before electronic publishing, graphic designers had to mock up layouts by drawing in squiggled lines to indicate text. The advent of self-adhesive sheets preprinted with “Lorem ipsum” gave a more realistic way to indicate where text would go on a page."
I think others may be right in saying the text represents that Arlo doesn’t really listen, but it may also suggest that Jimmy is at a loss for real dialog this morning!
Meledosia almost 6 years ago
and anyway it seems she said to the effect: There is no one who loves pain itself, who seeks after it and wants to have it, simply because it is pain.
david_42 almost 6 years ago
My wife likes to talk to the floor, in another room, and get upset when I don’t understand. Of course, I have to go to wherever she is and ask her to repeat herself, she won’t come to me.
JB10000Lakes almost 6 years ago
Klaatu barada nikto
ClaytonEmery1 almost 6 years ago
The joke is the words are “funny text”. When graphic designers put together brochures and such, but don’t have the proper text yet, they drop in Latin “funny text” to show what it will look like when finished. Here it’s automatically “funny”.
Old Codger almost 6 years ago
This comic used to be entertaining. What’s happen?
richkinn almost 6 years ago
Semper ubi sub ubi. Always good advice.
Jaime Jean M almost 6 years ago
The much-used Lorem Ipsum text is made of snippets extracted from a Cicero quote and according to Wikipedia it means ""Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure." Small wonder Arlo’s mind is wandering off!
realexander almost 6 years ago
Jimmy has been updating his web site. This is the default text that Wordpress displays. That’s probably why he did this comic.
SpicyNacho Premium Member almost 6 years ago
So a lazy 4 panel set up that can be used in a rush to throw a joke into the dialogue balloons?
Max Starman Jones almost 6 years ago
Arlo warned her not to watch that one TV cable channel with Benny Hinn on it.
amayesin almost 6 years ago
It’s Latin to me!
toppop52 almost 6 years ago
From 1040 AD to Johannes Gutenberg, everyone should understand this!
rlaker22j almost 6 years ago
Just claim spousal deafness you’re off the hook
HarryLime Premium Member almost 6 years ago
As Alfred E. Newman once said, “Quid me anxious sum.”
Kizarvexis almost 6 years ago
http://www.openculture.com/2015/03/the-story-of-lorem-ipsum.html
chuck_sa almost 6 years ago
Females have the innate ability to make a short story long. Which is why we never ask “how did your day go”.
JamesRedding almost 6 years ago
Should read “Dolorem” for the first word which is “pain”. From Cicero and is from a commentary about why no one except a few appreciate pain. Today the phrase is typographer’s gibberish used to show off a font’s appearance. I recall the gibberish was in WordPerfect advertisments to show what it’s typsetting looked like back when they were in Orem, Utah (1980’s).
eladee AKA Wally almost 6 years ago
I don’t know about y’all but it’s all Greek to me!!!!
bobbyferrel almost 6 years ago
O si bili, si ergo.Forti bus es en ero.Nobili, demis truxSewats enem?Cowsen dux.
chehsire_cat_63 almost 6 years ago
Either testing to see if the spouse gets it (unlikely due to the last frame) or testing us to see if we get the joke of a dummy text used for laying out text. https://loremipsum.io/
Sportymonk almost 6 years ago
Molon Labe
dcpinney Premium Member almost 6 years ago
Google translate doesn’t even understand it.
Tyge almost 6 years ago
I have a different take. Jimmy has a penchant (talent?) for presenting strips that make it to the CIDU (Comics I Don’t Understand) web site. The double “gag” is that, while no one is expected to understand the gibberish text, Jimmy gets a CIDU by and while making it overt in the last panel.
Something like that. Actually, I get it. I think… ;o)
trainnut1956 almost 6 years ago
Well, yeah, nobody’s gonna understand that. They haven’t taught latin in public schools for over fifty years. They’d rather waste the taxpayer’s dollars on things like new new math and mission and vision statements, rather than, say, actually teaching the kids anything.
candomarty Premium Member almost 6 years ago
Speaking as a professional copy editor, I got a BIG kick out of this one.
micromos almost 6 years ago
Arlo has the “I’m listening dear” stare down pat.
dv1093 almost 6 years ago
My wife talks to me all the time like that.
timbob2313 Premium Member almost 6 years ago
Latin?
Tyge almost 6 years ago
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.
Even gibberish.
Teto85 Premium Member almost 6 years ago
Hoopa popla washtonae.
Here's Waldo almost 6 years ago
“Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, minutus carboratum descendum pantorum”.
ChurchSinger almost 6 years ago
Nor is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. (by Cicero)
ggresham1 almost 6 years ago
Isn’t this the space filler text you see in fake newspapers on TV and movies?
Sebec Premium Member almost 6 years ago
Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
PoodleGroomer almost 6 years ago
Sometimes finding someone that has escaped learning common knowledge is funny in itself. Someone was leaving for a long drive back home after New Year’s holiday and their engine didn’t sound right. I stopped them and we checked the oil, which was low. We got some oil and he said: “What do I do with this?”
Ermine Notyours almost 6 years ago
Samuel L Jackson ipsum dolor (not safe for work)
https://slipsum.com/
360guy Premium Member almost 6 years ago
Should reverse the roles in tomorrow’s strip, with Arlo in an attitude of mansplaining while Janis is staring at her phone.
MartyKittrell almost 6 years ago
Frequently called Placeholder Text.
Darwin7848 Premium Member almost 6 years ago
I put up a comment explaining Greeking but it seems to have disappeared.
Enoi almost 6 years ago
All the graphic designers in the audience will understand.
KEA almost 6 years ago
I got it.
All the dinosaurs feared the T-Rex almost 6 years ago
Or as so beautifully put in Johnny Dangerously: Post meridian. Ante meridian. Uncle meridian. All of the little meridians.
[Unnamed Reader - b63dc7] almost 6 years ago
Thanks for reminding me that I am a dinosaur! This is what we called Greeking in the commercial art business…long before computers it was rubbed down to indicate where copy was to be inserted! I just found a ton of in an old supply cabinet…and it’s still good after 30 years!
bexlind almost 6 years ago
I understood. Just filling space. HAHAHA!!
Ginger Vedder almost 6 years ago
In my home last night. How did Jimmy get it in today’s paper so fast?!
David Huie Green LoveJoyAndPeace almost 6 years ago
If you can’t understand nonsense, why come here?
Unless you enjoy nonsense…..
Never mind.
boydwwadams almost 6 years ago
I’m having difficulty with this myself: I thought at first a recipe, but it discusses “vitality, the time of labor and in pain, but some important things to do….” some a of the words when taken as passages do not properly translate to English. So is it a subtle jab at the readers acceptance that we cannot understand Janis’ comment?
foxmike6513 Premium Member almost 6 years ago
9th and 10th grade Latin was way too long ago, but something about a lot of pain and work and time. Maybe the effort put into thinking up the strip for the day.
ansilatoms Premium Member almost 6 years ago
Oh, I get it. I did a lot of layouts in my short art school experience. What next? A crowd murmuring, “watermelon, cantaloupe”?
dvandom almost 6 years ago
There is no one who loves pain for its own sake? Never met a masochist….
Scott S almost 6 years ago
Google Translate translates the phrase in the second frame to “Over time you should work, and the way of obesity and vitality”
sanibel_999 almost 6 years ago
Google Translate isn’t much help. Something about denouncing pleasure and praising pain???
paul brians almost 6 years ago
People who deal with page layout will recognize this as the beginning a standard dummy Latin text used to see how text will flow in a certain space.
Google Lorem Ipsum for a detailed explanation and translation.
Dr_Fogg almost 6 years ago
wasn’t that the spell used in “Bed Nobs and Broomsticks”?
jonesbeltone almost 6 years ago
She needs to put something in his coffee-maybe a blue pill?
gooddavid almost 6 years ago
Well well, I learned something new today. Thank you Mr. Johnson.
fehorse almost 6 years ago
Typesetters will understand
tudza Premium Member almost 6 years ago
English translation here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorem_ipsum
pigbayou Premium Member almost 6 years ago
Got it! Filler.
gadget57 almost 6 years ago
yep…Arlo has that spaced out look in his eye so he isn’t listening….
Sneaker almost 6 years ago
IN one ear and out the other!
craigwestlake almost 6 years ago
I dated Lorem once; she acted smart, but I could read between the lines…
oakie817 almost 6 years ago
I took 3 years of Latin in high school…(required course, plus another language of your choice)
Steve James almost 6 years ago
“If you’ve ever used a layout program, you may be familiar with lorem ipsum, the block of dummy text traditionally used in page mock-ups to demonstrate how the finished product will look. The text looks vaguely Latin, and usually begins with the phrase “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet…” before spinning off into any one of several variations."Alex Eichler in The Atlantic Technology section
sheashea almost 6 years ago
I don’t understand half of this comic strip anymore anyway.
BonnieGustafson almost 6 years ago
It is what typesetters used to “test print” a page in a novel. Read about it in the “Thursday Next” books…her 2 yr. old son spoke “Loren Ipsum….”…..lol!!!!!!!
The Pro from Dover almost 6 years ago
Ono away Anicejay
dmr almost 6 years ago
We used to do fake Gregorian Chants to this in our graphic design office, on slow days.
The Joke Explainer Premium Member almost 6 years ago
I can say that about most of his comics.
salexand Premium Member almost 6 years ago
Well this may be the most enjoyment I’ve gotten out of a comic in years! And a fine reason to have a subscription to gocomics. Thanks all!
sbferg almost 6 years ago
Seems to be a testament to the power of coffee.
mafastore almost 6 years ago
Sounds like something from law school to me.