[Vocabulary] affect

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Kotfor

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I wonder what does it mean?

doesn't affect me so much

1) That University didn't affect me so much.
2) Coffee doesn't affect me so much.
3) They might want rob me and take my money but as I have no money it won't affect me so much.


I am not sure about the meaning. Does it mean that it won't produce any negative influence over me or not only? I am especially having a hard time understanding the 1st sentence.
 

SoothingDave

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#1 doesn't seem natural. I don't know what effect a university is supposed to have.

Take #2. It means that coffee has a little bit of effect (stimulation from the caffeine), but the effect is not very large.
 

Kotfor

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#1 doesn't seem natural. I don't know what effect a university is supposed to have.

Take #2. It means that coffee has a little bit of effect (stimulation from the caffeine), but the effect is not very large.
I suppose that the first might mean that University didn't give me something what I had thought it would such as knowledge, friends, a change of the style of my life or something else.
What I fail to understand is whether "affect" bears a negative effect or positive or both? For example, the dictionary gives these examples

Cold weather affected the crops. - "NEGATIVE EFFECT"
The music affected him deeply. - I think "POSITIVE EFFECT"

So what the second one may mean then: The coffee doesn't produce a negative effect on me so much. I think my interpretation is wrong but can you see how I come to this interpretation?
 

SoothingDave

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With the coffee, it could be either positive or negative. It depends on whether the speaker is expecting a lot of effect.

If I am trying to stay up late to do some work and I say that coffee doesn't affect me much, I'm probably complaining. On the other hand, if I need to go to sleep early and someone is questioning whether I should be drinking coffee in the evening, it is more of a positive statement.
 
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