# I have been described as 'anal'



## clarearnold

Could anyone give me a defenition please. 

Obviously this has not been offered to me as a complement!

i!would appreciate any comments.


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## diegodbs

clarearnold said:
			
		

> Could anyone give me a defenition please.
> 
> Obviously this has not been offered to me as a complement!
> 
> i!would appreciate any comments.


 
Do you mean "anal" in Spanish?


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## Polastudent

Clarearnold:

I would like you give me the context of this world, but the anatomy definition in anatomy: the *anus* (from Latin ānus "ring, anus") is the external opening of the rectum.  There is not other definition in Spanish language.

Pola


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## Polastudent

Sorry, I made a mistake: Context of this WORD.


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## clarearnold

I doubt it, but i would like to know the Spanish meaning.


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## Polastudent

In Spanish, Ano: Es la parte externa del recto (parte por la cual se defeca)

Pola


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## diegodbs

clarearnold said:
			
		

> Could anyone give me a defenition please.
> 
> Obviously this has not been offered to me as a complement!
> 
> i!would appreciate any comments.


 
Anal (Spanish) = anal (English)

But I've never heard a person being described as "anal" in Spanish.


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## la reine victoria

clarearnold said:
			
		

> Could anyone give me a defenition please.
> 
> Obviously this has not been offered to me as a complement!
> 
> i!would appreciate any comments.


 
Welcome to Word Reference Forums, Clarearnold.  

The ususal phrase is 'anal-retentive', which means someone who is over-concerned with small details, tensed up.

You shouldn't let it bother you.  

Regards,

La Reine V


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## Polastudent

Reine V:

I didn´t know it. Thanks, today I learned it. 

Pola


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## suso26

A lo mejor se refiere a:  anal cuyo plural es anales (registros), pero esa palabra parece que no existe en singular, eso creo. 


Ej.  en los anales de la historia...


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## daviesri

Welcome Clarearnold.  As la Reina Victoria said above it is someone seen as overly worried about small details and unable to adopt a philosophical attitude toward mistakes.  I do not think of it as an insult.  It is more of an observation about you from the person who used the term.  I have been called anal-retentive due to the fact that I like things in their place and not all over the place.


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## eironi

Someone who is anal (anally retentive) = someone who has the tendency to always "hacerse pajas mentales".
But I'm not sure if that's what clarearnold wanted to know...


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## Gargoyle

*anal**1**.*(Del lat. _annālis_, de _annus_, año).*1.* adj. desus. *anual.**2.* m. pl. Relaciones de sucesos por años. http://forum.wordreference.com/Era u. t. en sing.http://forum.wordreference.com/*3.* m. pl. *historia* (ǁ narración de los acontecimientos pasados). _Ese asesinato quedará en los anales del crimen._*4.* m. pl. Publicación periódica en la que se recogen noticias y artículos sobre un campo concreto de la cultura, la ciencia o la técnica.These are the definitions from the Rae. Perhaps the description is a methafora...I have no idea


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## VenusEnvy

Gargoyle said:
			
		

> *anal**1**.*(Del lat. _annālis_, de _annus_, año).*1.* adj. desus. *anual.**2.* m. pl. Relaciones de sucesos por años. http://forum.wordreference.com/Era u. t. en sing.http://forum.wordreference.com/*3.* m. pl. *historia* (ǁ narración de los acontecimientos pasados). _Ese asesinato quedará en los anales del crimen._*4.* m. pl. Publicación periódica en la que se recogen noticias y artículos sobre un campo concreto de la cultura, la ciencia o la técnica.These are the definitions from the Rae. Perhaps the description is a methafora...I have no idea



Gracias por las definiciones, pero la palabra en ingles lleva otro significado que nomostraría una lista de definiciones españolas....



Como dijo la Reina, estar "anal retentive" en inglés significa que estás obsesionado con las detalles.  Un ejemplo:

_Persona 1: Puedes archivar estos papeles por favor?
Persona 2: Claro!   ::archiva los papeles::
Persona 1: No, no... Se hace así.... pero, este tiene que colocarse primero..
Persona 2: Así?
Persona 1: No, no... 
Persona 2: Pero, puse ese primero, como dijiste... Así?
Persona 1: No, no....  Ayyy, dejame hacerlo!
Persona 2: Ayyy, no seas anal (retentive)!  _


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## la reine victoria

Hi Clarearnold.  Here you will find the origin of the phrase.  All deeply psychological.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anal_retentive


La Reine V


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## Gargoyle

Thanks Venus for your dialogue i understood the meaning of the word perfectly


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## mhp

eironi said:
			
		

> Someone who is anal (anally retentive) = someone who has the tendency to always "hacerse pajas mentales".
> But I'm not sure if that's what clarearnold wanted to know...


I'm still trying to figure out what's the relation between being "anally retentive" and to "indulge in mental masturbation". Mental masturbation is the act of enjoying one’s own ideas and theories without paying attention to facts; an anal-retentive, as mentioned, is a person who is obsessed with details. Is there a connection in Spanish that is missing in English?


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## Monnik

Because there is, indeed, a lack of the word (phrase) in Spanish, I usually call anal-retentives _estreñidos_, jejeje


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## clarearnold

Thankyou. You  have all confirmed my thoughts!


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## clarearnold

Hi . Thanks for your responses last night. I didnt realise this was a spanish/English intellegent site!! 

I was just confused about a comment made to me. 
I know now not to concentrate on unimportant detail (eg. my anus!! lol)

Thanks for all your replies (please excuse all my spelling mistakes and grammar mistakes)

Thanks again

Clare


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## Soy Yo

Children sometimes have habit of delaying bowel movements... perhaps because they don't want to "give it up."  A person is anal retentive when he has to control everything and doesn't want to turn anything loose.

(my interpretation...so don't quote me)


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## aurilla

Come on, guys, being anal retentive, aka "tight-assed," is someone who doesn't know how to relax, a perfectionist, who expects others to do the same or else.


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## mhp

--Soy Yo Quote Missing--
Well I won’t quote you, but excuse me, that’s just disgusting


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## clarearnold

AURILLA.. Thanks, I was looking for the simple answer! 
Now i know it has nothing to do with going to the toilet!!

Thanks again everyone


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## eironi

I agree with all the above but just to add that in the UK "tight-assed" usually means something who is stingy with money ("tacaño", I guess) rather than someone who is anally-retentive!


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## aurilla

in Puerto Rico we just say the person is "anal" (in Spanish".


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## clarearnold

eironi

Yes you are correct about the "tight-assed /arsed" thing. Being 'Anal' Is something different (im sure of that!)


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## sober

I´m thinking that maybe "anal-retentive" could be translated as "pejiguero/a", right?


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## Aaron3000

"Anal" is english slang to describe someone who is detail oriented or overly detail oriented. It's orgin is in psychology from the Freudian term 'anal-retentive'  A common joke which illustrates an person who is anal is
Is does anal retentive have to be written with a hyphen, for example,  is it 'anal retentive' or 'anal-retentive'


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## linmorwen

eironi said:
			
		

> Someone who is anal (anally retentive) = someone who has the tendency to always "hacerse pajas mentales".
> But I'm not sure if that's what clarearnold wanted to know...



 not what I wanted to know, for sure... Quite explicit language!


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## donector

mhp said:


> I'm still trying to figure out what's the relation between being "anally retentive" and to "indulge in mental masturbation". Mental masturbation is the act of enjoying one’s own ideas and theories without paying attention to facts; an anal-retentive, as mentioned, is a person who is obsessed with details. Is there a connection in Spanish that is missing in English?


 
la relacion es q: si una persona esta "overly worried about small details of form, style and etiquettte" / "es anal"; es consecuencia d q esta persona internamente, se ha auto-convencido de q el ajuste de estos de detalles segun su gusto, es algo posible - necesario - y tan bueno al punto q otros deben seguir estos estandares: lo cual es solo poducto de un "pajeo mental"-> postura irreal. 

pq en en el mundo real, dejar todos los detalles a la pinta de la persona anal, no significa necesariamente - para nada - q el todo quede mejor que sin la consideracion las QUISIQUILLOSAS exigencias de desta persona.

en sintesis

pajeo pental para los detalles ->quisquillosa -> "anal"


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## aldoam

This is all Freud's fault. As part or psychoanalisis, Freud clasiffies people's personalities as oral, anal or (i cant remember the 3rd one, my gf is a psychologist, that's where I learned this from). It's not an insult nor a compliment, it is only a way to describe someone...like saying someone is aprehensive, agressive, self-centered, etc.


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## fuzzzylogix

Anal is short for "anal retentive" (in this context). Anal retentive people are very closed and bottled up...they don't loosen up and are usually very guarded.


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## lapachis8

Hi:
Anal here is originated as a psychoanalysis term:

These erotgenic zones are the ORAL, the ANAL, and the PHALLIC, and they correspond to three major stages of childhood development. They take place roughly between the ages of 2 to 5, though Freud was often revising his estimate of the ages when these stages occurred; later psychoanalysts argue that the oral stage begins soon after birth, with the first experience of nursing, and that the phallic stage ends somewhere between ages 3 to 5. The exact ages at which an infant goes through these stages are less important, in understanding psychoanalysis as theory, than what those stages represent. The oral stage is associated with incorporation, with taking things in, with knowing no boundaries between self and other, inside and outside. The anal stage (which Freud says has a lot to do with toilet training) is associated with expelling things, with learning boundaries between inside and outside, and with aggression and anger. The phallic stage--and Freud argues that "phallic" refers to both penis and clitoris, and is common to both boys and girls--leads a child toward genital masturbation, and hence to the gateway of adult sexuality."

In this link.
But it also describes obsessive people.
Check this link

cheers


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## RDorantes

Esta palabra no se traduce literalmente es mas un modismo o "slang" en Ingles Americano. "Anal" significa ser muy meticuloso y perfeccionista, Don't be so anal on your ways to leave. Normalmente no se usa formalmente esta palabra por la confusion y asociacion de esta palabra con "anus".



clarearnold said:


> Could anyone give me a defenition please.
> 
> Obviously this has not been offered to me as a complement!
> 
> i!would appreciate any comments.


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## RDorantes

Anal se usa en Ingles Americano como perfeccionista, *Don't be so anal leaving your life*. Usualmente no se usa en Ingles formal.


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## RDorantes

I meant *living *not leaving...


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## Pepiss

Aunque haya pasado tanto tiempo, ahora que lo veo se me ocurre que es español podría decirse "quisquilloso".


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## danidrums

And maybe couldn't it be that you were named "banal" instead of "anal"????

maybe you understood it wrong...

It's only a supposition cause in Spain i've never heared the sentence _You're anal_...but I've heared the former....

Sorry for my english, by the way....


Kind regards!!


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## anxoperez

so, does anyone have a good translation for "YOU ARE SO ANAL"?

Living in Spain and dealing with bureaucracy here I need it at the very least every week.

Quisquilloso doesn't have half the connotations.

L8er

Anxo


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## Soy Yo

danidrums said:


> And maybe couldn't it be that you were named "banal" instead of "anal"????
> 
> maybe you understood it wrong...
> 
> It's only a supposition cause in Spain i've never heared the sentence _You're anal_...but I've heared the former....
> 
> Sorry for my english, by the way....
> 
> 
> Kind regards!!


 
"Anal" and "banal" are two different things. (And they don't rhyme... "banal" is stressed on the second syllable and "anal" on the first...so I doubt if there's been a mis-hearing of the term.... Anyway, very interesting thread!  Over here, I believe you're more likely hear "anal" than "banal" but since they mean different things you really can't compare their "frequency"...


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## tayines

In the "500 days of Summer" script movie:

TOM
                    Why thank you. That's what they
                    called me in college. "Perfectly
                    adequate" Hansen.

                              SUMMER
                    They used to call me *"Anal Girl."*

          Tom does a spit-take and almost chokes.

                              SUMMER
                        (EXPLAINING)
                    I was very neat and organized.


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## ORL

> Someone who is anal (anally retentive) = someone who has the tendency to always "hacerse pajas mentales".
> But I'm not sure if that's what clarearnold wanted to know...


 
Hmmm... no estoy de acuerdo, no me parecen equivalentes. Quien incurre en "pajas mentales" es quien piensa demasiado, quien da demasiadas vueltas a las cosas o se va por la tangente en su propio mundo mental.
Se supone que quienes pasaron por una larga etapa de retención de las heces, tienden a ser demasiado puntillosos, meticulosos y buscan siempre el órden absoluto. En Argentina, sobre todo en Buenos Aires, se usa muchísimo lenguaje psicológico en el habla cotidiana, pero en cuanto a esta cuestión anal, va más bien por el lado de las "fijaciones anales", por lo que si le dices a alguien que tiene una fijación anal, lo más probable es que relacione con cualquier cosa menos con lo de la puntillosidad.
Se le diría en forma más general, que es un/a neurótico/a del detalle.


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## zincin

Hi, a good synonym in English for "anal" (in this context) is _meticulous_, which has a very similar equivalent in Spanish: _meticuloso_. 

In regards, to "pajas mentales", certainly it is not to be interpreted literally; when someone "se hace pajas mentales", it means that this person is on "a trip", either thinking about "impossible stuff" or making up stories in their minds.  For example, an atheist would say that God is a "paja mental".  Of course, this is a vulgar phrase so it is used colloquially and most frequently among familiar people.  All in all, it has nothing to do with being anal.


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## starredondo

Depending on the context of how "anal" is used, maybe a good translation would be "culero". 

Ex: "Don't be so anal!" -- "No seas culero!"


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