"Tawny"

I've never used that word in a sentence. Never uttered it aloud, heard anyone employ it in casual conversation or, truth be told, been bothered by the fact that I can't remember what it means. I willfully ignore it in books, having never encountered an author whose general meaning hinged upon it. And if it quietly went extinct, I doubt I'd one day be at a loss for just the right word and fail to get some spectacularly insightful point across... I'd probably go on describing things just fine.

But, because I once misspelled it in a regional spelling bee, it just kind of stays with me. Or, to put it more accurately, a hazily spelled version of it stays with me, definitely starting with a "t" and most times ending in a "y." It's like having an acquaintance you don't particularly care for in your mind. I guess you could say I'm haunted.