Narrator: COMPRESSED THESIS COMICS today's thesis:
Narrator: "Computational Measures of the Acceptability of Light Verb Constructions"

T-Rex: Light verb constructions (LVCs) are constructions like "take a stroll" and "give a smile"!

T-Rex: They are formed by combining a light verb (such as "take" and "give") with a complement ("stroll", "smile"). Most of the meaning of a (non-idiomatic) LVC comes from the complement ("stroll" and "smile").
Dromiceiomimus: Amazing!
T-Rex: I know!

Utahraptor: But aren't some LVCs more acceptable than others?
T-Rex: Yes, this is true!

Utahraptor: It would be really nice to be able to measure that computationally.
T-Rex: Sure would! Hmm, I wonder if statistical measures of association would correlate well with human judgments of construction acceptability?

Narrator: TWO YEARS LATER:
T-Rex: Hot crackers! They DO!
T-Rex: I should totally write this stuff down!