Problems with a sentence

I found this,

do-well by : Treat or considere adequetely or fairly

I guess now the meaning is quite clear.

SG

Hi,

I agree. However, it's an expression that sounds rather old-fashioned, and perhaps literary, so I wouldn't suggest using it in every-day conversation.

Best wishes,

Clive

Thank you both

Hello Antonia,

First, a little tip: It's better to say, "I'm confused by (not 'confused with')..."

Then, in your quoted sentence--it could translate like this: 'I found myself wondering skeptically if Miss Cornell thought Mr Wilder and I had done well.'

'Done' would refer to something understood in the larger context of the sentence, such as in this scenario: Miss Cor

Thank you for the tip.

Davkett- I would tend to agree with the previous interpretation, where "done well by" means "treated fairly." I agree that in certain contexts, "by" can mean "in the opinion of," but I just don't think that's the case here. It reminds me more of a Jewish-American usage illustrated in the old joke "I see your son has bought a boat. He's bought a captain's hat. He thinks he's a captain. By me

I'm happy to be corrected, Khoff, and I thank you for causing me to read my own statement again. What I meant to write was--

'I found myself wondering skeptically if Miss Cornell thought well of what Mr Wilder and I had done.'

But that still comes around to "in the opinion of", doesn't it? ...done well by her standards.

As opposed to: 'I found myself wondering scepti

Hi Davkett - I wasn't saying that the original sentence meant 'I found myself wondering sceptically if Mr Wilder and I had been treated fairly by Miss Cornell.', but rather "I found myself wondering if Mr. Wilder and I had treated Miss Cornell fairly." I take "if we had done well by her" to mean "if we had acq

Thank you, Khoff.

Never too old to be straightened out.