In the early days before cars were invented, horse power was more to do with actual horses.
In 1956 in Texas, a man was put into the electric chair and who protested his innocence until the switch was pushed. Upon switching on the juice, all the power went out and the man was unharmed.
They repaired the problem and put the man in the chair for a second time then switched on the juice.
This time there was nothing. The switch was operated again, but nothing.
It was later found that it was a faulty switch, which was replaced.
The man was brought back for a third time and they knew that if it failed again, the man would not be executed.
They got him ready and soaked his head with a sponge but just before the switch was pulled, there was a power outage all over the city. The prison guards took the opportunity to finish the man off with lighted candles and the word for death from that day on was called WAXED.