What the heck is a "tort??"  Well, it's a legal term not in common use with regular people.  But you know what a "liability" is and that's a legal term too.  A tort leads to legal liability.  A "tort" has a similar connection to the word "torque" in Latin.  You are familiar with a torque wrench.  A torque wrench is a tool used to precisely apply a specific pressure to a fastener such as a nut or a bolt.  Using a torque leads to fastened nuts or bolts.

In legal terms, a tort has a similar connection in legal theory that torque has in engineering.  Torts allow lawmakers to apply punishments to nuts (the nuts are people in this case).  Technically, a tort is a wrongful act or an infringement of a right (other than under contract) leading to legal liability.

Here's the problem.  Unlike situations involving torque, which are facts based on evidence, the idea of a tort does not come from facts.  A tort is an opinion held by a person or a group of people.  It may be a legal opinion, but it's still an opinion.

![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/25/Torque_force_equivalence_at_one_meter_leverage.svg/1280px-Torque_force_equivalence_at_one_meter_leverage.svg.png)