BITTO-RI びっとり
Meanings
Describes dirt, grease, parasites, or something similarly unpleasant sticking fast and refusing to come off.
Examples
Motorcycle engine oil is caked onto it and won’t come off.
バイクのエンジンオイルがびっとりこびりついてなかなか落ちない。
I nearly fainted when I saw two leeches clinging tightly to my leg.
足にヒルが二匹、びっとり張りついているのを見て気絶しそうになった。
Dogmatic Opinion
BETTA-RI gives us BETA-BETA, and BETTO-RI gives us BETO-BETO. Strangely, BITTO-RI does not normally give us BITO-BITO.
All three suggest adhesion that is difficult to break. If I force a distinction, BETTA-RI and BETTO-RI seem more capable of objectively describing stickiness, while BITTO-RI puts more weight on my subjective disgust at what is stuck there.
Or perhaps BITTO-RI suggests adhesion without the repeated sticky movement implied by BETA-BETA and BETO-BETO.
After all, you do not repeatedly stick a leech on, peel it off, stick it on again, and peel it off. At least I hope not.
Proximate Expression
sticky
cake
Related Words
For Japanese Learners
Stuck fast, clinging unpleasantly, caked on, firmly stuck to, and plastered onto may fit. Moisture itself is not the key; stubborn adhesion plus the speaker’s discomfort is. This is uncommon enough that its fine distinction from BETTA-RI and BETTO-RI should not be treated as rigid.
