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[Douglas G. Wilson]

>The phrase ?anal retentive?: what is the first cite?
>I?ve always assumed this was a phrase coined or
>introduced by a specific
>psychologist/psychiatrist/sociologist, but is that
>really the case?  Part of my curiosity stems from
>wondering if this type behavior was initially intended
>to be as sigmatized as usage of this sobriquet now
>implies.  (Would a rose by any other name...?)
>
>One of my daughters (23 yrs)occasionally uses the
>single word ?anal? to describe someone (no, not
>me!)who is petty or overbearing, but I once described
>a person's behavior (no, not her's!)as ?anal
>retentive? and she gave me a look that indicated to me
>that she not only made no connection between her usage
>and mine, but was actually somewhat offended by my use
>of the phrase.
>
>By the way, what would the behavior opposite of anal
>retentive, if there is such a thing, be called - in
>comparable terms?

This concept is traditionally associated with Freud.

A brief overview:

http://oldsci.eiu.edu/psychology/Spencer/Freud.html

"Anal" = "precise"/"fussy"/etc. is an abbreviation of "anal retentive"
originally, I believe.

The opposite of "retentive" is "expulsive", so I would say "anal expulsive"
is the best "opposite". Some people might prefer "oral expulsive" or
something else as an "opposite".

Some expressions which have more or less precise meanings in specialized
jargon have divergent meanings in popular or street usage, of course. "Anal
[retentive]" has a popular sense somewhat similar to the psychiatric sense.
"Schizophrenia" OTOH denotes something like "multiple personality disorder"
when used casually by laymen, while it is something entirely unrelated in
psychiatry. Similarly "stress" as typically used by the layman in a
'medical' context is quite different from "stress" as used in 'real'
medical contexts (e.g., in "stress erythropoiesis", "stress fracture").

I'm just typing off the top of my head.

-- Doug Wilson