Why do we call it "boilerplate code?"

The term 'boilerplate code' originates from the Industrial Revolution, combining aspects of steam engine boilers and the Linotype machine used in hot metal typesetting. Boiler plates referred to uniform, rolled sheets of iron used in steam engines. With the advent of hot metal typesetting, easily replicable molds of text made it possible for standardized articles to be distributed to various newspapers, which led to the use of 'boilerplate' to describe unoriginal, standardized content. This term was later adopted in journalism, law, and eventually programming to refer to repetitive or standard sections of code.