BATTA-RI ばったり
Meanings
1. Describes a person or heavy object suddenly falling or collapsing.
2. Describes unexpectedly and suddenly running into someone by chance.
Examples
1. During the major earthquake, a bookcase toppled over and nearly killed me.
大きな地震の揺れで、本棚がばったり倒れて死ぬところだった。
2. While traveling, I unexpectedly ran into my next-door neighbor in a shop.
旅行先のお店で、ばったりお隣さんと会った。
Dogmatic Opinion
In sense 1, when used of a person, BATTA-RI suggests collapsing with enough suddenness that the person cannot stay upright or even brace for the fall—for example, fainting from anemia. It can also evoke arriving home completely exhausted and immediately dropping onto the bed.
In sense 2, the image is encountering an acquaintance somewhere neither of you expected to meet. Seeing another parent at your child’s sports day would not normally be BATTA-RI, because that encounter is unsurprising. Ideally, the meeting is unexpected for both people.
Likewise, spotting a celebrity in your neighborhood supermarket does not feel quite as BATTA-RI to me if the celebrity does not know you. You have recognized them, but the encounter is not mutual in the same sense.
What connects the two uses is a feeling of suddenness: the previous course of events is abruptly interrupted.
Proximate Expression
bump into
Related Words
For Japanese Learners
For sense 1, collapse suddenly, fall over, or topple over may fit. For sense 2, run into someone, bump into someone, or happen to meet someone is natural. BATTA-RI highlights the unexpected, abrupt nature of what happens.
