'boilerplate' = ?

Question

Hi all!I have encountered the word 'boilerplate' several times but don't know what it means (and couldn't get a good clue from those situations).What does it mean?

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Hi all! I have encountered the word 'boilerplate' several times but don't know what it means (and couldn't get a good clue from those situations). What does it mean?[/nq]
From MWCD10 at www.m-w.com:
Main Entry: boil·er·plate
Pronunciation: -"plAt
Function: noun
Date: 1897

1 : syndicated material supplied especially to weekly newspapers in matrixor plate form

2 a : standardized text b : formulaic or hackneyed language

Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus731/

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hi all! I have encountered the word 'boilerplate' several times but don't know what it means (and couldn't get a good clue from those situations). What does it mean?[/nq]
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?boilerplate

Evan Kirshenbaum + HP Laboratories >Specifically, I'd like to debate
1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 >whether cannibalism ought to bePalo Alto, CA 94304 >grounds for leniency in murder,

http://www.kirshenbaum.net/

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hi all! I have encountered the word 'boilerplate' several times but don't know what it means (and couldn't get a good clue from those situations). What does it mean?[/nq]
It's relatively thick steel or other rigid metal designed to be used in harsh environments such as boilers ... or:
In a document context, it refers to rigidly-structured and standardized language that is included essentially unchanged in a class of documents. For example, a copyright statement will likely appear in a standard form that will vary only as the year changes.

A more extensive example would be introductory material that is reproduced in every volume of a multivolume set, probably unchanged in each.
A third example would be standardized forms for things like rental contracts or wills, where most of the language is unchanging, although there may be spaces in which to enter information like names and rates.
Yet another use is somewhat more metaphorical, where formulaic-seeming text appears within the body of a work where it really shouldn't. For instance, in a series of fictional works authors sometimes believe it necessary to summarize a set of basic facts about a character or situation in every volume. While it could be done creatively, it is often done with similarity of style and content so that it appears to be boilerplate language.

rzed

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hi all! I have encountered the word 'boilerplate' several times but don't know what it means (and couldn't get a good clue from those situations). What does it mean?[/nq]
It means several things, depending on context.
The literal meaning is a steel plate used in constructing boilers.

A metaphorical meaning is a set piece of text that can be included in a larger document, for example as a clause in a contract, or other legal document. This is usually referred to as "boilerplate text", though the "text" may be dropped if it is clear from the context that it is referring to text and not steel.

The document is thus composed of parameters and boilerplate.

The parameters are the parts that only apply to the document in question, such as the names of the parties. The boilerplate is the same for all such contracts.
My word processor has a device called "save-gets" for insering boilerplate text. Others call them macros, autotext and various other names, but the principle is the same - a bit of standard text that you can instert into a document.

Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Hi all! I have encountered the word 'boilerplate' several times ... a good clue from those situations). What does it mean?[/nq]
[nq:1]It means several things, depending on context. The literal meaning is a steel plate used in constructing boilers. A metaphorical ... from Tshwane, South Africa http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stopuk[/nq]
Save-Get: Are you using Xywrite, perchance? My first word processing program

. Haven't used it for years but it wasn't bad, at all, at all. Even had a window function, so you could look at two documents at once.

Cheers, Sage

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]It's relatively thick steel or other rigid metal designed to be used in harsh environments such as boilers ... or:[/nq]
Interesting. I had always imagined a quite different origin for the term. I took a boiler plate to be a plate attached to a boiler detailing its capacity and power, like the labels on many electrical appliances, having the property that most of the text was fixed, with only the numbers specific to that particular model varying.

Richard

Spam filter: to mail me from a .com/.net site, put my surname in the headers.

FreeBSD rules!

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]My word processor has a device called "save-gets" for insering ... of standard text that you can instert into a document.[/nq]
[nq:1]Save-Get: Are you using Xywrite, perchance? My first word processing program

. Haven't used it for years but it wasn't bad, at all, at all. Even had a window function, so you could look at two documents at once.[/nq]
Yes indeed. My copy is 15 years old now, but it still actually processs words better than the modern multi-megabyte wonders. To extend the metaphor, it has a bigger boiler, with stronger plates, though it lacks many of the bells and whistles. It's still the only one that does proper redlining. Its search & replace is easier to use, faster and more powerful than most of the others etc. I still use it for formatting text to be inserted in e-mails and newsgroups, for example.

Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]It means several things, depending on context. The literal meaning is a steel plate used in constructing boilers.[/nq]
Are you sure about that, Steve? I pictured it as being the plaque attached to the boiler that would carry the maker's name, patent details, date, pressure rating etc. That seems to fit better with the tranferred meaning as some kind of lettering.
Or perhaps the word 'boilerplate' could mean both things.

Regards
John

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]It means several things, depending on context. The literal meaning is a steel plate used in constructing boilers.[/nq]
[nq:1]Are you sure about that, Steve? I pictured it as being the plaque attached to the boiler that would carry the maker's name, patent details, date, pressure rating etc. That seems to fit better with the tranferred meaning as some kind of lettering.[/nq]
Althought that sounds probable to me, my 1983 copy of Collins has only the constructional sense, with neither the name-plate nor the writing meanings: "a form of mild-steel plate used in the production of boiler shells".

Cheers, Harvey
Ottawa/Toronto/Edmonton for 30 years;
Southern England for the past 21 years.
(for e-mail, change harvey to whhvs)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Hi all! I have encountered the word 'boilerplate' several times ... a good clue from those situations). What does it mean?[/nq]
[nq:1]It means several things, depending on context. The literal meaning is a steel plate used in constructing boilers. A metaphorical ... the document in question, such as the names of the parties. The boilerplate is the same for all such contracts.[/nq]
THANKS!

'boilerplate' = ?

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions