So last night as I was brushing my teeth before bed, I was telling Ray a story about something that had happened at the Dentist Office a couple of days earlier.  I started to tell him how the hygienist and the dentist “corrob… er uhm… collaborated” their story. 

He said, you mean “they corroborated“?

To which I denied… “Corrobor…. what?  There’s no such word.  It’s collaborate.”

“No, no, no…”  He was certain. 

“So what’s the difference then?”  I probed, sucpicious that he was making up a word.

He explained that people collaborate when they rob banks, and that witnesses corroborate when they verify an alibi.

I was still suspicious — just like when I KNEW that it was Winona Ryder in Pirates of the Caribbean, and he thought it was Keira Knightley.  Silly Boy… I said, and I think we actually bet on this one.  Of course HE was right.

But this time our dispute involved WORDS, that’s something I know.  He’s more of a math/ programming guy.  Yes, he beats me at everything, but certainly not at words.

So I ran downstairs in my pajamas to get the laptop and bring it back up to bed.  We googled his silly, made-up word “corroborate.”  Hhmm… he wasn’t even sure how to spell it.  I was sooo going to win this one!

And then to my surprise, there it was.

Corroborate.

to make more certain; confirm

and then we googled

Collaborate.

to work, one with another; cooperate

Argh… how come he ALWAYS gets to win?!  Even about WORDS this time! 

(In all truth, I secretly enjoy that he’s smarter than me.  Shh… don’t tell him!)