> If your word starts or ends with a descending letter (e.g. "ghastly"), then the underline looks like it omits the first and last letters.

That's how I was taught to type underlines back in the 1980s on actual physical typewriters, so it's not a new idea.

I still do it today!

If one could apply a double-underline then the second, lower, line would be uninterrupted and make for a pleasing effect.