Modernisation, if that's an appropriate term, does injustice to one's ability to recognise the etymology of a word.

But it's a series of modernizations, innovations (and errors?) that comprise the etymology of a word, isn't it? A modernization simply enriches the etymology. How's that for a rationalization?

That said, I am really fond of old, vestigal things, whether parts of words, bits of architecture or techniques in a recipe. To me, they can be an enticing mystery and can lead to a new understanding of how the world got the way it is today. And when a word is modernized, it loses those clues.

But pity those of us to whom correct spelling is not second nature. Spell checkers help, but only part of the time. Perhaps we need two versions of English spelling. Clothing and food and architecture have developed distinct modern and formal styles. Would spelling benefit from the same? Or would that relegate the "formal" style to the same rarefied, lonely, and stiff precincts as those of dinner jackets, haute cuisine and drawing rooms?