So when I was young and possibly even nerdier than I am now, I thought reading the dictionary was a good use of time. I would find new words and try to work them into my vocabulary. One day, I found the word contemn. It's a good word. The definition is "to view or treat with contempt".
A few weeks later, I found a great opportunity to use it in an essay. There was a character in some book who was extremely contemptuous toward some other character. So I wrote that character A contemns character B. I was pretty proud of myself.
Then the essay came back, with "contemn" circled in red ink with a comment saying, "condemn. Please use spellcheck." I was livid. But at least some (questionable) good came out of the experience: I stopped reading the dictionary.
Confession: When I said "young" I meant a senior in high school.
