An American grad student and a German grad student are talking about their dissertations.
"I've nearly finished mine," boasts the German. "It's in four volumes!"
"Wow!" says the American, impressed. "What are they?"
"Well," says the German. "The first one is the background, the second is the experiments, and the third is the analysis."
"What about the fourth?" asks the American.
"Oh! That's just the verbs."
(увидела у Ксении
@linguistique_sur_un_genou)