Random text in Word 2007

In olders versions of Word, you could enter random text into a document using something like this typed in at the beginning of a new line and press Enter:

=rand(2,3)

This gives you 2 paragraphs each of 3 sentences of the text "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog." It was not particularly original but it was handy for filler text.

In Word 2007, the news is better still. There are two options:

type

=rand(3)

To get three paragraphs of random text, this time it actaully makes sense and looks like real text.

The best news is, however, that Lorem ipsum can be entered automatically. Now I can remove the AutoText entry I always use to insert this Latin text and do it anywhere, anytime in Word 2007. Here's what you type:

=lorem()

this gives you a little sampler of text. Type:

=lorem(10)

to get 10 paragraphs of it.

It's easy to remember and easy to use and, well - thank you Microsoft, I'm impressed!

Lorem Ipsum

You've seen it typed, you've read it and wondered what it is. The answer is: old Latin, very old Latin dating back to BC. Nowadays it's plain old filler text that designers use to fill in places in sample documents to show what it will look like when it is complete. To avoid having to make words up and to ensure that the reader looks at the design and doesn't focus on the words (on the assumption that most of us don't understand Latin), designers use these made up pieces of text that are to their audience at least, total nonsense. Enter Lorem Ipsum - it's one of those slabs of usable text which only Latin scholars can recognize.

If you need to get your hands on some Lorem Ipsum then visit the Lipsum site where you can grab yourself some paragraphs of the stuff so you too can fill your pages with dummy text.