# neat freak



## ihsaan

Hi,
How do you say "neat freak" in Arabic with a sort of humouristic cling to it? For example: someone is explaining that they've just cleaned and tidyied (sp?) up their entire home, and another person exclaims: "Oh, you're such a neat freak". Or maybe the person her-/himself ends by saying "oh, I'm such a neat freak".

Also, in Norwegian we have an expression which is something similar. We say that someone "har støv på hodet" = "they have dust on their mind, e.g. that they are obsessed with dust, see dust every where and are constantly cleaning. Is there an equivalent expression to this as well in Arabic? [I was unsure if I should make a new thread for this question].


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## Finland

Hello!



ihsaan said:


> How do you say "neat freak" in Arabic with a sort of humouristic cling to it?


 
One way of saying it in Standard Arabic would be موسوس بالنظافة, or you could say the person suffers from وسواس النظافة, but I don't think it is very humorous...

Just an idea that occurred to me!

HTH
S


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## shafaq

I think  موسوس بالنظافة  or   وسواس النظاف  indicates an ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder suffering one. But "neat freak" doesn't contain suchlike deepness. I offer  عاشق / عشقة النظافة  ;  also  مجنون / مجنونة النظافة may be applicable for some extent.   .


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## xebonyx

Humorously? Perhaps مدمن/ة على النظافة , as مدمن means addicted. Another possibility could be مهووس/ة بالنظافة.


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## Josh_

How about محب للنظافة?


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## ihsaan

Thank you for all the great suggestions!


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## Haroon

Josh_ said:


> How about محب للنظافة?


 
Sorry Josh, but "محب"  is a _light_ word comparing to "freak". Any normal person is محب للنظافة but a freak is the one who may hurt his own hands while washing them, for example.


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## psxws

Haroon said:


> Sorry Josh, but "محب"  is a _light_ word comparing to "freak". Any normal person is محب للنظافة but a freak is the one who may hurt his own hands while washing them, for example.



Not really. A neat freak is just someone who loves cleaning; freak in this case is not used literally. It does not mean that they are literally disturbed or weird, it's just an expression to mean that they really like cleaning.


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## clevermizo

psxws said:


> Not really. A neat freak is just someone who loves cleaning; freak in this case is not used literally. It does not mean that they are literally disturbed or weird, it's just an expression to mean that they really like cleaning.



I disagree. To me a "neat freak" is someone who is obsessed with cleaning. Not necessarily to the extent that they have a mental disorder of course - but that it's somewhat "abnormal" - their desire to clean. I mean, I like to clean, but I wouldn't describe myself as a "neat freak." It even has some negative connotation to me because it sounds as though this person is very anxious and nervous should things get dirty.

I think محب للنظافة might be too light as well, but it all depends on whether Arabic has an archetype of this character, otherwise any name we think of won't be idiomatic anyway.


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## ihsaan

To me a neat freak is someone who likes everything in his/her home to be very clean (spot-free!) and organized, but it doesn't necessarily mean that this person _likes to clean, _rather he/she likes the _result_ that cleaning produces (see above). This person is somewhat obsessed with keeping the home clean, but not to a OCD-degree. If someone would exclaim "I'm such a neat freak," when talking about him/herself, I would see this as a slightly humourous, self-ironic and (maybe?) somewhat of an over-exaggerated remark.


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## clevermizo

ihsaan said:


> To me a neat freak is someone who likes everything in his/her home to be very clean (spot-free!) and organized, but it doesn't necessarily mean that this person _likes to clean, _rather he/she likes the _result_ that cleaning produces (see above). This person is somewhat obsessed with keeping the home clean, but not to a OCD-degree. If someone would exclaim "I'm such a neat freak," when talking about him/herself, I would see this as a slightly humourous, self-ironic and (maybe?) somewhat of an over-exaggerated remark.



I agree with you but there's a difference in intonation between calling yourself a neat-freak (which is obviously meant to be humorous or ironic) and calling someone else a neat-freak.

In essence, I think neat-freak implies obsession, and so is necessarily a little bit negative. Which is why if you call yourself a neat-freak or your friends a neat-freak, it's taken as a joke, because obviously you don't mean to criticize yourself or the people you like. But if I call someone I don't like a neat-freak, it's really because I think they're a little crazy about how much they clean.


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## ihsaan

I agree with you a 100%.


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## Faylasoof

I wonder about this:

مخبول بالنظافة

خبل_ khabila_ = to be / become crazy, insane, imbecilic. 

Google  for <neat freak> of course gives نزوة أنيق.

Not sure how good or indeed how “humorous” either one of these sounds to a native Arab. 

 نزوة can also mean <fit, paroxysm, whim, surge etc.>


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## Josh_

Haroon said:


> Sorry Josh, but "محب" is a _light_ word comparing to "freak". Any normal person is محب للنظافة but a freak is the one who may hurt his own hands while washing them, for example.


Yes, you are right, محب للنظافة is probably too light.

I wanted to mention, in addition to the other explanations of neat freak, that this term normally applies to one who likes his/her personal surroundings, such as his/her home, very clean, but is normally not applied to personal hygiene (at least in my experience). I would probably call someone who washes his/her hands to the point of chafing as obsessive compulsive.


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## Mahaodeh

I've often her the word مسرسب used for someone that is a neat freak.


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## ihsaan

I went back to this thread to go through it again, and I'm left somewhat confused. Was there any conclusion in the translation of "neat freak"? It seem as if people here found the translations suggested as either too harsh or too light...


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## the-moon-light

I think the best transaltion of: neat freak is:

- مجنون/ مجنونة نظافة
- موسوس/ موسوسة نظافة


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## ihsaan

thank you


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## the-moon-light

You welcome! 
And I've seen that *موسوس نظافة* is more close to "neat freak" than other translations.


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## Ali Smith

shafaq said:


> I think  موسوس بالنظافة  or   وسواس النظاف  indicates an ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder suffering one. But "neat freak" doesn't contain suchlike deepness. I offer  عاشق / عشقة النظافة  ;  also  مجنون / مجنونة النظافة may be applicable for some extent.   .


Why put the definite article before نظافة? You don't mean "the cleanliness", do you?


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