"One who takes orderliness to the extreme such that any disorder causes discomfort," says Greg Y. Fung '95, a frequenter of Cabot Library.

"Someone who's meticulous or takes a lot of care in what they do. That's how I think of it when I think of myself," answers psychology concentrator Katherine E. Maggs '92.

Freud on the Subject

But the official word came from Assistant Professor of psychology Todd F. Heatherton, who teaches Psychology 1. The term anal retentive, he explains, was first used by the inventor of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, to describe people who are fixated at the anal stage of psychosexual development.

The problem develops during toilet training: Heatherton says during this period, some people become obsessed with cleanliness and order, and begin to repress the pleasure received from bowel movements.

"An anal person is orderly, stingy and stubborn. He or she is the model of cleanliness and orderliness, almost to the extent of exaggeration of their goals," the professor says.

She's Anal, I'm Anal, We're All Anal

While not everyone comes up with the same definition, most Harvard students agree that the term can be easily applied to many of their friends, and even themselves.

"I think it definitely has a more collegiate, upbeat meaning. [The term] is used in a more jokingly than psychological manner--so many students are the same way," says Maggs. "It takes one to know one."

Maggs says that most critics of her idiosyncrasies--which include not allowing different foods on her plate to touch each other and eating each item one by one--are comparably anal.

"I think people are anal, but they're inwardly anal--you don't want to be seen as a dork even if you are one," says Fung. Though he acknowledges that many try to hide their analities, Fung doesn't mind admitting his own.

"I'm pretty anal," Fung says. "I'm so anal that I have to have my stapler pointed in one direction and flashlight in another on my desk."

Models of Cleanliness and Order

In Wigglesworth D-12, a passion for neatness drove Eric S. Witt '95 to label each of his desk drawers. His 'habit' eventually inspired his roommates to parody his behavior by labeling all of his possessions.

Witt says he came back from a meeting one night to find labels such as "Eric's Morrisey poster," "Eric's calendar" and "Eric's trash can" pasted to objects all over his room.