The classic examples here are homophones like there, their, and they're. Here and hear. Etc. Words like dessert and desert, though not alike in sound, are spelled similarly. Effect and affect are often mistaken for each other.
Tonight's offending entry (entree?) involved a sport story about a young high school girl who was talented in track and field events. At one point in the story, there was a graphic which listed some of the events in which she and some of her teammates excelled. Among the events listed was something called "Discuss." As in, "How far can you throw the 'discuss.'" Close but no cigar.
Now I'm not immune to making such mistakes. I may have maid (sic) similar mistakes in this very posting (not counting the title, which was on purpose). But my point is that we should think twice about abandoning the trusty old dictionary. Webster and those who put together the Oxford English Dictionary and others in the field worked hard at codifying the language. It would be a shame if, because of laziness or ignorance, we were to unravel their work. Sometimes in the course of looking up a word, even one we know (or think we know), we can find meanings, word origins, and other information which might be more interesting and useful than we might be able to imagine. It might even help us to remember the word, and its incorrect alternatives, for future reference. And for those interested in sports, it might help us to find a better way to "discuss" the "discus."
