In the US we switch between "(zone) standard time" to "(zone) daylight time" - Eastern Standard Time to Eastern Daylight Time.
So "permanent daylight saving time" makes sense to us since we use the term "daylight time" where Europeans tend to call it "summer time."
Still true that DST really just describes the overall time-changing process, just giving some insight into why the phrase makes sense to us.
I think daylight time refers to the winter because it's emphasizing daylight? Always struck me as terribly named and never learned to differentiate until now