Head on over to our website where you’ll discover a plethora of informative blogs, a number of helpful tools, tons of useful grammar tips, and more. To further your overall understanding of the word boilerplate, let’s open up your handy-dandy thesaurus to review a few synonyms and antonyms. Add boilerplate to one of your lists below, or create a new one.
Boilerplate language is standardized text that can be used repeatedly in similar documents without major changes. Legal agreements, including software and hardware terms and conditions, make abundant use of boilerplates. Another example of a boilerplate is the fine print that appears on many contracts. This section is usually static, as is the case with many cell phone contracts. This indicates the fees, charges, and other rules that may apply to someone’s service.
This type of boilerplate, written by a party with superior bargaining power and presented to a weaker party, is often called an adhesion contract in the legal profession. Courts may set aside provisions of such contracts if they find them coercive or unfair. The legal profession began using the term boilerplate as early as the mid-1950s when an article in the Bedford Gazette criticized boilerplate language as fine print designed to bury the unpleasant details of an agreement. In the 19th century, a boilerplate was a steel slab used as a template in the construction of steam boilers. This term for standardization was adopted by editors to describe the often trite and unoriginal work that some writers submitted for publication.
Examples of boilerplate
For instance, a media release contains boilerplate language at the bottom, which is usually information about the company or product and may be updated for different situations before being disseminated to the public. A boilerplate project is a standard template that can be easily adapted to create new projects. For example, an eBay seller may create a boilerplate for a store with a basic design that is ready to be filled in with new text for each product. A boilerplate statement is standard preapproved text added by businesses to many documents. It is generic but can be altered slightly to fit a specific purpose.
Boilerplate language is used for efficiency and to increase standardization in the structure, language, and content of written or digital documents. In contract law, boilerplate language is used to ensure that all the necessary legal details are documented. Boilerplate can be any text that is reused repeatedly without substantial changes to the original. Boilerplates are commonly used online and in written filing taxes as a self employed canadian documents by a variety of entities including corporations, legal firms, and medical facilities. In the days before computers, small newspapers around the U.S. relied heavily on feature stories, editorials, and other printed material supplied by large publishing syndicates. The syndicates delivered that copy on metal plates with the type already in place so the local papers wouldn’t have to set it.
For instance, a lawyer may give you a five page contract to sign, but most of the contract is boilerplate — meaning it’s the same for everyone who gets that contract, with only a few lines changed here and there. In contemporary times, the term boilerplate is applied to a wide variety of settings. Kevin Miller is a growth marketer with an extensive background in Search Engine Optimization, paid acquisition and email marketing. He is also an online editor and writer based out of Los Angeles, CA.
Printers apparently dubbed those syndicated plates « boiler plates » because of their resemblance to the plating used in making steam boilers. Soon boilerplate came to refer to the printed material on the plates as well as to the plates themselves. The wording of these passages is generally not up for negotiation with customers, who will often sign boilerplate documents without actually reading or understanding them.
Boilerplate Meaning: Here’s What It Means and How to Use It
Bank employees and loan applicants may fill in the blanks or select from checkboxes rather than create an entirely new document for every applicant. These documents typically remain unchanged so that the parties using them are not misled into accepting unfavorable conditions that even small changes in the boilerplate text could cause. The term is also used by https://www.kelleysbookkeeping.com/what-is-an-expense-report-with-downloadable/ software writers to refer to coding that is created and reused over and over again. In this case, the IT specialist only has to rework some of the code to fit into the current need, without making major changes to the original structure. Users can make slight changes to the language or certain portions of the text to tailor a document for different uses.
- Similarly, IT professionals can make a few alterations to existing code to create new text and documents online.
- Boilerplate can be any text that is reused repeatedly without substantial changes to the original.
- These tools help save time and money, allowing standard text and documents to be created and approved for use over and over again.
- Bank employees and loan applicants may fill in the blanks or select from checkboxes rather than create an entirely new document for every applicant.
- But there are disadvantages as well, and they usually fall on the recipient rather than the producer.
He studied at Georgetown University, worked at Google and became infatuated with English Grammar and for years has been diving into the language, demystifying the do’s and don’ts for all who share the same passion! That said, boilerplate is also a term commonly found in the computer world when describing various small entries of code that are used over a wide array of programs. To truly understand the meaning of a word, it can be helpful to review multiple definitions from a few trusted sources. The word boilerplate can be used in information technology (IT) and legal agreements alike — but do you know what it means? Boilerplate language serves a purpose but it’s important for those who receive it to read it carefully. Just because it’s standardized doesn’t mean it isn’t important.
What Is Boilerplate in a Press Release?
Our word of the day is a unit of writing that can be reused over and over without change. Although this is the most common use of the word boilerplate, we should note that it can also refer to steel rolled in large flat plates, often used in making steam boilers. Banks use a standard contract for everyone who applies for a home loan.
A boilerplate clause is a standard section of a contract that outlines certain conditions to which all parties must adhere. For example, it may describe how any problems and disputes will be resolved. Boilerplate statements also can be found in press releases, the About Us section of a corporate website, or company announcements. But there are disadvantages as well, and they usually fall on the recipient rather than the producer.
They prevent inadvertent deviation from one contract or document to the next.
