Torque

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Torque: Twisting action.

I hear car people talking about foot pounds of torque. Not quite understanding, I looked it up. I still don't understand. Why should my car be doing the twist? And why should that be a selling point? What is causing this twist to occur? To what device is it applied? Does it make the car go faster or smoother? Does it make the car happier if it has more twist than the other cars?

At the Peppermint Lounge, Chubby Checker invented a dance he called the twist in 1960. It was all the rage for a few years and created a great deal of income for chiropractors. Vanity Fair had a recent interesting article about the phenomenon.

In the world of Damon Runyon, a twist is a young woman. This may refer to her appearance as she walks away from the speaker, or I suppose it could have to do with a woman twisting a man around her little finger, or having twisted logic, but it is foolish to try to analyze slang. However, I have never heard of a woman being referred to as a torque. The Peppermint Torque? She torqued me around her little finger? Well, this all puts a new torque on things.

Click on title if you are in the mood for an overwhelming essay on the word. If you want just a little bit, click on the word.
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