I have been told that is an old-fashioned, puritanical attitude.

A condescending view of puritanical American attitudes toward the private lives of politicians has also colored some discussions in Britain's political commmunity.

Many islanders are also members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and tend to a somewhat puritanical attitude.

She goes on to point out that"Nothing was more alien to the baroque than a puritanical attitude towards technique and material.

Yet when Miss Moore served as editor of the influential poetry magazine The Dial, whe was criticized by some writers for her extremely puritanical attitudes.

"In our society, there's a weird liberationist but puritanical attitude that you must be honest," Ms. Quan said.