I'm not 'objecting' to anything and I don't think it's misleading. I just think it's weird to describe a simple machine in terms of a more complex machine by pointing out that in one aspect the more complex machine is doing what the simpler machine does.

It's like describing a light-switch in terms of relays. Not wrong, not even misleading, but normally you'd expect the comparison to be made the other way around; describing relays in terms of light-switches or the rotational inertia of turbines in terms of flywheels.