Does the phrase "anal retentive" have a hyphen?

[mac56]

:evilgrin:

[oxymoron]

1. ROFLMAO

you should know.

[mac56]

3. LOL!

:evilgrin:

[PartyPooper]

2. either way is okay.

:anal retentive:

:hi:

[Anus Retainus]

4. No!

It's two words!!

:+

[Syncronaut Seven]

5. MS Word seems to prefer the hyphen

:+

[Endangered Specie]

6. Not sure,.. but I do know that "Locked Thread" doesn't have one

[DenverDem]

7. Not being anal retentive, myself

I don't think it matters if you hyphenate it or not. The idea will come across.

[Armand]

8. Actually, yes it does.

According to Merriam-Webster online:

Main Entry: anal-retentive

[Another Bill C.]

9. Also the Oxford English Dictionary

anal-retentive

• adjective Psychoanalysis excessively orderly and fussy (supposedly because of conflict over toilet-training in infancy).

The Chicago Manual of Style (15th edition) recommends following the definition as given in "the dictionary."

[PinkTiger]

10. According to AP style,

You would hyphenate it if you use it as an compound adjective before the noun. For example, "anal-retentive rants of Republicans."
However, if you just use it as a predicate noun, it would not have a hyphen: "The Republicans were thought to be anal retentive."

I'm pretty sure, anyway. Ha!

To get the joke here, go to:
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?AnalRetentive

[unblock]

11. no,no,no: "does the phrase 'anal retentive' have a COLON"

[oxymoron]

12. Don't be so harsh.

I'd say a semi-colon.

[MercutioATC]

13. Not to be anal-retentive, but I believe it's "semicolon"

:evilgrin: