The semantic objection is not because of "purchasing" implications, but the intent behind the abstention. Nations boycott the Olympics for political reasons. Th

The semantic objection is not because of "purchasing" implications, but the intent behind the abstention. Nations boycott the Olympics for political reasons. The term boycott implies collective abstention to influence something outside of the standard transaction. In this case, the intent behind their abstention is inside the standard transaction: they abstained to get good grades.