We’ve all heard this term tossed around in various situations. Despite all the times that I’ve heard it used, it still doesn’t sit quite right with me. When I first heard it (but had not yet seen it written down), I thought it was a whole new word. I just couldn’t imagine mature and refined people using the word “anal” in normal conversation, unless I was in the company of proctologists, of course. I was slightly comforted by the fact that the definition and use of the word doesn’t really have anything to do with the anus, or so I thought. To my understanding, having never previously looked up the term in a dictionary, it was usually used to describe people who had to be very precise and have everything just right to the point where it was annoying to other people. Something like that, at least. So I just recently decided to look it up. This is what Dictionary.com spit back:
Indicating personality traits, such as meticulousness, avarice, and obstinacy, originating in habits, attitudes, or values associated with infantile pleasure in retention of feces.
Reading through the first part, I was thinking that it was alright and it all made sense. Then suddenly, BAM! I’m hit with “infantile pleasure in retention of feces“. What the hell? I’ve never heard of an infantile pleasure such as this, much less do I have any memory of indulging in this activity myself. It struck me weird because it feels like it is totally out of the blue, yet it really isn’t because the term itself has the word “anal”. Apparently, the “anal” part of it is rather important.
Personally, I never use this term. That’s not because I’m totally against it or anything, it’s just that I never really got comfortable using it before and now that I know this, I can’t help but either get disgusted or just snicker every time I hear it used. What gets me even more is when people are talking quickly or they’re just lazy and they shorten it to just “anal”. It’s like they don’t even realize what they’re saying, or maybe they just don’t care. Whatever it is, the whole “anal-retentive” thing just doesn’t sit well with me. I’m just fine with using lower forms of insults such as “stupid” or “idiotic” as well as bad-mouthing the person’s mother.
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