Large lexical resources, such as corpora and databases of Web ngrams, are a rich source of pre-fabricated phrases that can be reused in many different contexts. However, one must be careful in how these resources are used, and noted writers such as George Orwell have argued that the use of canned phrases encourages sloppy thinking and results in poor communication. Nonetheless, while Orwell prized home-made phrases over the readymade variety, there is a vibrant movement in modern art which shifts artistic creation from the production of novel artifacts to the clever reuse of readymades or objets trouvés. We describe.
