alt Hacker NewsFair. I just remember them being inconsistent between the English and localised versions of Windows, and given I used both, that turned into a nothing-feature. Another comment mentioned you could edit the underlines in Office 2003, but I never knew that back in the day (or until today for that matter...).
It's pretty hard for the shortcuts to be consistent and localized. Especially if you also use different keyboard layouts when you're using different languages...
Even for keys that aren't mnemonic, do you want undo to be ctrl + z or ctrl + the key closest to left shift?