I came across the term boilerplate somewhere in a documentation (can't find the link/page right now). On coming back to my room and opening up my dictionary, I saw the following definitions:
Noun: boilerplate
- Standard formulations uniformly found in certain types of legal
documents or news stories- Thick plate iron used in the production of boilers
While I completely understand what the second one ("Thick plate iron used in the production of boilers") is referring to, can someone still explain to me the first one (possibly with some example which can be applied/noticed by everyone and not restricted to a small community)?
To repeat my own question, what is meant by the following:
Standard formulations uniformly found in certain types of legal
documents or news stories
Best Answer
It's called boilerplate because it has been 'field-tested' in courts of law and held to mean what it is intended to mean; just like real boilerplate, you can be confident that it will not explode under pressure.
Here's an example of Language for a Living Will from the website of the Attorney General of the State of Missouri (a "Living Will" is "a document that allows an individual to express wishes for medical care if he or she is unable to speak for him or herself"):
Boilerplate is not restricted to legal contexts; you may use the term anywhere you are speaking of language which is more or less guaranteed to accomplish what it is supposed to. For instance, much (perhaps most) computer code is such boilerplate.
Your definition's reference to "news stories" refers to the once common practice of distributing news releases as pre-cast plates of type; unlike text, this could not be edited into a different form but could only be inserted, as-is, into a newspaper's press.