2007-03-23 06:02:23 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Trivia
Sigmund Freud proposed that infants go through various developmental stages, including "oral" and "anal" stages. He theorized that early experiences manifested themselves later in life, thus some people are "anal retentive". This refers to people who need to have a lot of structure to feel comfortable; these people may act compulsively to constantly keep things clean and neat, for example.
So when you hear someone say, "don't be so anal", they mean to say that you should loosen up and stop being overly concerned with order, rules, neatness, etc.
2007-03-23 11:09:49 · answer #1 · answered by Marko 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it is a short version of the phrase "anal retentive" which is a stage in child development when the child is focused on themselves and needs things to go a certain way or they get frustrated and upset. It usually applies to people who are not very flexible with their schedule and need things to go a certain way that they are planning on, or they get frustrated and stressed.
2007-03-23 06:31:03 · answer #2 · answered by Carrie M 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Uptight and overbearing. As in an anal boyfriend who is upset if you are not exactly on time.
2007-03-23 07:48:02 · answer #3 · answered by KD 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
to be uptight.. guarded even. closed minded? set in their ways? i'd say grandma is anal about her clean house..(make sense?)
the commanding officer is anal about inssubordination. to be anal is to be an ***.
I hope that helps.
-m
2007-03-23 06:49:47 · answer #4 · answered by MAX POWER 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's pretty much a way of saying that someone is too much of a perfectionist. They have to have things "just so"...
2007-03-23 06:09:48 · answer #5 · answered by Cute But Evil 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
its ur but hole ur anus
2007-03-23 11:13:11 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋