What is a cookie-cutter site

[Jim]

A "cookie cutter" site is one that the builder creates so the title of the site can be easily changed and the sites can be stamped out like using a "cookie cutter".

[secretagentwilly]

Originally Posted by Jim

A "cookie cutter" site is one that the builder creates so the title of the site can be easily changed and the sites can be stamped out like using a "cookie cutter".

So the newbie question from me is, how is this different from a template? Is it a bad thing? I've seen declines in the link-o-rama thread for template abuse, but that was typically blatant like one was the same color scheme and everything...please clarify