Does "undercut" have a simliar meaning with "affect" in the sentence?

[BobK]

Originally Posted by BobK

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PS *Another reason is that "undercut" doesn't work in this context. I'm surprised that Longman's use it; perhaps there's some more context to the example - though I can't think what. If you "undercut" something you don't "reduce" (or "affect") it in any way; you compete with it by being smaller -
Example:
My local shop charges 90p for a bottle of milk, but the new supermarket undercuts that by 30p.

I'm afraid I don't have time to check other dictionaries this morning; this is just my native speaker intuition.

I've now found this: undercut - Definitions from Dictionary.com
As you can see, there are 16 meanings for "undercut", of which 8 are for the verb; and one of the possible meanings for the verb is 'undermine'. I stand corrected - I just haven't heard this usage (perhaps it's Am English?)

b

[sky753]

Originally Posted by Rossming

well,as for my being using a lot of idioms,i got something to say.
actually,gaining some exposure to some basic american or british idioms can be really beneficial and enriching i bet u know.besides, a saying among english learners and language teachers appealing to me goes like this"it can be impossible for ppl who know crap about idioms to really have a stable mastery of english no matter how large vocabulary they got coz about half of the daily conversations involve idioms...."
as far as i am concerned,one thing for sure is that i do gain access to english movies once in a while to relax myself as well as to learn something like idioms at the same time.i bought myself a book concerning american idioms a long time ago and try to get a load of it when i'm available.however,to be honest,i've been really lazy and idle and haven't touch it for a while.hehe
well,u better not stare at the words while watching a movie coz it's gonna be harmful in terms of learning english and u will barely learn.from my humble view and experience,i would like to advise u to keep from watching a single line when u r in the middle of a movie.just get urself a script of the movie by means of downloading online and read carefully the lines actors and actresses said in the movie after u finish watching it.at the same time,u gotta try to use ur imagination to recall the scenes of the movies so as to help u remember some amazing and useful lines which contain loads of idioms.hehe.guess it's an efficient way to enlarge ur idioms.by the way,u better buy an idiom book like i did and read it when u r free!
am i making myself clear then? hope u can get something!! lol
Rossming

Dear Rossming,

Thanks a lot for your suggetions!

Regards


Sky

[Rossming]

you are welcome!
wish you success in the persuit of your dream of becoming an excellent and amazing interpreter!!you will make it i bet.
have fun then
take care!!
Rossming

[sky753]

Originally Posted by BobK

The reason* that they are not synonymous is that 'affect' can mean 'affect in a good/positive way'. If you want to make affect have the meaning you want you have to add a word - something like 'affect adversely'.

Of course, given the context (in this case) the "adversely" is implicit.

b

PS *Another reason is that "undercut" doesn't work in this context. I'm surprised that Longman's use it; perhaps there's some more context to the example - though I can't think what. If you "undercut" something you don't "reduce" (or "affect") it in any way; you compete with it by being smaller -
Example:
My local shop charges 90p for a bottle of milk, but the new supermarket undercuts that by 30p.

I'm afraid I don't have time to check other dictionaries this morning; this is just my native speaker intuition.

I refered to Cambridge Dictionary today for undercut and found that it has two meaning : one similar to yours is defined as " charge lesss than competitors" , the other is '' weaken, damage ", which is synonymous to undermine. And the second meaning , from my humble opinion ,is close to that of affect!

With regards to your view that "affect" doesn't contain the "adverse"meaning, I am afraid ,I can't agree with you. As far as I know, 'affect' means ' have a bad influnce on sth.' like: The bad weather will affect the crops, the divorce affects every aspects of her life... So, I hope you can present your clarifications here!

And how wonderful it would be if only the most frequent meaning of a vocabulary were used in the textbook , as the intuition told you! It would be much easier for learners to master English!