This doesn't surprise me. My thought was that if enough people are referring to these things incorrectly all over the internet, it's only a matter of time before the manufacturers start focusing their SEO on those incorrect terms (to get as many buyers as possible), and before you know it, everyone out there is simply using the wrong term to describe it.
Hell, I would be willing to bet dollars to donuts that if I went out with my local Jeep club to hit the trails and asked someone if they had a spare "bow shackle", they'd all look at me confused and ask me what that is. I may start doing that from now on just to mess with people.