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The ‘elevate’ definition of boost makes sense, isn’t that’s what a tap of the Lightning bolt does to Stacker News posts?
It elevates the post higher up on the page (along with sending a payment).
I hadn’t ever heard boost being used as a synonym for stealing before, but it is on Google as a north american synonym.
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Here's another IMO correct (by english language standards) use of 'boost' from @jb55: in damus boost means retweet, aka elevate.
You're right, 'set' is highly overloaded as are many other very short english words. Still, these are exceptions and without good reason I think overloading words is an anti-pattern, as in they confuse and hide meaning rather than reveal it, as in overloading should be used very selectively. IMO, boost already being a synonym for stealing, an antonym for giving, makes it an uphill battle for understanding boost as tipping/paying. Also, with Bitcoin being a global asset, overloading boost could add to confusion for non-english speakers.
Maybe boost will eventually solidify as meaningful. For the time being, it only confuses me, and likely other people who aren't bitcoin "insiders."