[ti:'Boilerplate' Language Is All Business]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]更多听力请访问21VOA.COM
[00:00.04]And now, Words and Their Stories,
[00:11.60]from VOA Learning English.
[00:18.56]Today we talk about a type of writing -- boilerplate.
[00:25.60]Boilerplate language is the writing
[00:28.48]in documents such as contracts.
[00:31.48]The language is standardized.
[00:34.52]This means the words are well established
[00:37.96]and used by many people.
[00:40.88]The language is widely recognized as acceptable.
[00:45.56]It is not creative, nor does it change very much.
[00:51.08]So, when it comes to things like business documents,
[00:55.32]legal contracts, and training manuals,
[00:58.68]boilerplate is a good thing.
[01:02.24]You don't need or want creative language
[01:05.72]in those sorts of documents.
[01:09.60]However, in writing other kinds of stories,
[01:13.32]boilerplate has a different meaning.
[01:17.24]If a piece of writing is not special or creative,
[01:21.76]we can call it boilerplate.
[01:25.24]The words hackneyed and trite have related meanings.
[01:31.68]Hackneyed or trite writing is commonplace
[01:35.80]and repeated too often.
[01:38.68]There is nothing special about boilerplate writing.
[01:43.96]Now, let's hear boilerplate used in some examples.
[01:50.40]I'm not signing any contract
[01:53.44]without my lawyer looking at it first.
[01:57.32]I don't care how boilerplate it is.
[02:03.04]The writing in the novel was boilerplate.
[02:06.60]It showed no creativity.
[02:11.48]The writing job was not difficult for the college student.
[02:16.56]It was mostly boilerplate type stories.
[02:22.48]The website Meriam-Webster.com explains
[02:26.12]how the term "boilerplate"
[02:28.12]came to mean standard or non-creative writing.
[02:35.12]Boilerplate comes from syndicated stories
[02:38.56]used especially by weekly newspapers.
[02:43.56]These stories were ready-to-print
[02:46.52]and required no additional writing.
[02:51.04]Boilerplate stories were not usually hard news.
[02:55.52]They were stories that just filled space in the newspaper.
[03:00.88]So, the term boilerplate
[03:04.44]can mean ordinary, mediocre writing.
[03:08.48]In the past, these stories were sent on flat, metal plates.
[03:13.64]These story plates looked like plates
[03:17.44]used to make steam boilers,
[03:19.88]devices used to make steam for heat or power.
[03:24.80]So, they were called "boiler plates."
[03:28.60]Soon, the term "boilerplate"
[03:30.72]came to mean the actual printed material on the plates
[03:35.04]as well as to the plates themselves.
[03:39.52]And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories.
[03:43.28]Hopefully, you don't find our materials
[03:46.16]at VOA Learning English to be boilerplate.
[03:50.20]Until next time ... I'm Anna Matteo. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM