[hunter2_]

The verb form is where the atypical usage originates, so I think it's fair to focus on the verb as the point of interest despite including an example that happens to be a gerund.

Anyway, I think there's an even larger set that "spell" is a member of: metaphorical usage to highlight anything unwanted or erroneous; "code smell" is another.

It's wrong, therefore it smells. It's wrong, therefore it's misspelled. It's wrong, therefore it wants to be different (personification metaphor).