Aonghas Crowe

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Mosquito Bites

I shouldn't be surprised about this, but nevertheless am. According to a survey conducted by Weather News, the verb used to describe a mosquito bite varies from place to place. While 59% of the respondents said they were sasareta (刺された, be stabbed, stuck, pierced, or pricked) by a ka (蚊), or mosquito, a third (31%) said they were "eaten" by the pests: kuwareta (食われた). Another ten percent were "bitten" (噛まれた).

In the red prefectures (Kagoshima and Tokushima), over 40% of the respondents say they are "eaten by mosquitos". My wife, whose family hails from Kagoshima, will sometimes use kuwareta for emphasis or exaggeration.

Other dialectal forms include:

Kuttsukareru (くっつかれる, "stick to, adhere, cling") in Yamanashi Prefecture

Kajirareta (齧られた, "bite, chew, cling, stick") in Shizuoka

Kaburareta (かぶられた, perhaps related to "rash"?) in Yamaguchi

and

Gajan-ni kamarindō (蚊にカマリンドー) in Okinawa Prefecture