Right or wrong, and I'm not picking sides but, many people use the word torque when refering to horsepower that is at the low range of the rpm curve. And when referring to the higher side of the rpm curve they switch to horse power. I don't think it is a coincidence that torque numbers are bigger at the low rpm end and horse power numbers are bigger at the high rpm end of the curve. Everybody likes big numbers. You hear it everywhere. Even by people that fully understand the difference between horsepower and torque and would be considered knowledgeable in the high performance field.. Call it slang or what ever. Just like some people use the word power in place of Horse power.