In other languages when conversing you would use verbs, adjectives, adverbs etc. to describe a person. It sounds less clinical and snobby.
Is there a reason why english speaking people use terms from the psychoanalytic language to describe other people, most of the time without having studied this topic or even without exactly knowing what it's meant by the specific term.
Examples please?
Speaking of being anal....
Anyway, is "anal" a clinical term? I mean......at the clinics you are talking about?
Like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anal_retentiveness ( Freudian psychoanalysis ) ?
An anal retentive person "can't let go of shit." aka OCD ( perhaps equivalent to Bünzlism )
Well, probably for a few reasons.
First, Americans love self-help books, and that means that a lot of medical or analytical terms get 'dumbed down' and over time pass into the common parlance. If it makes you feel any better, I have studied Freudian psychoanalysis, so when I call you anal , at least you can be sure that I mean it.
Secondly, sometimes the clinical definition is a more accurate way to describe the behaviour. If someone was 'anal retentive' I might find other adjectives to describe him, like 'controlling' or 'uptight', and you often hear words like 'control freak' being used in common parlance to mean the same thing.
'Passive-aggressive' behaviour is more difficult to describe in everyday language. I'm not sure I could come up easily with an adjective that would neatly describe passive-aggressiveness. 'Mother-in-law' is not an adjective.
The thread title promised so much, but the contents was found disappointingly wanting...
Swiss ....?
You don't have to study psy to know what those terms mean.. I think it just became part of regular lingo. So many folks go to a shrink, or have their kids at a shrink, or have to undergo some kind of evaluation, PopPsy has become the fad (well, not really anymore), so it is logical people will have it plastered all ouva them. At the end of the day, there is not much difference to tell somebody to back off and mind his own biz and call him a passive-aggressive manipulator, it might just might be a little more accurate. You can always call people on their PopPsy jargon..
Why? Expressions such as 'a big girl's blouse' and 'my heart pumps custard' are so 80s...
Has a lot to do with media representations of mental illness from the 1940's onward - especially entertainment media, but also news - that's really how they end up in every day language. I don't know if it's the case that so many people have had some experience, or that they've just seen so many people with problems, seeing therapists, etc, doing drugs in movies and TV. And there's a lot of US humor based on this - for example - woody allen and his anxiety. First world problems in TV and movies.
The other issue is that people don't know what the terms mean. Not all, and not exactly. For example schizophrenic - means split from reality, not multiple personality. But its often used to represent multiple personalities.
Did somebody say... Anyway, is "anal" a clinical term? I mean......at the clinics you are talking about?
I agree, but you cannot change that, since the urban language just adapts it that way..Just like sarcasm/irony difference, different in literary theory terminology and how people use it now, etc. irks me.
I don't really mind using the psych terms, if they are used accurately, who cares. It's not really cool, though, to overanalyze constantly and label people, whatever sticker we want to use. But you cannot push out the positivist streak in us, really.
There is not much poetry in that kind of language, people should speak in metaphores more.
haha .... but, you must admit, a good tease will suck you in every time
In ...... or off?
Yeah, I really don't think the term "anal" is a proper psych. term.
And as for "passive-aggressive," well, there really isn't a synonym for that. And for all I know, that's not really a proper psych. term, either.
Both words do, however, describe my Swiss husband to a tee.
No idea what you mean. Maybe you have an Oedipus complex?
Always loved this song.
On a serious note, I agree with you that such a language can often objectify people and diss them.
because they don't need to study the topic when using the terms informally and not in a clinical fashion. particularly when the informal meaning and clinical meaning are different.
Don't you know? What are you? Some kind of cretin ?