Is there some difference between びっくりする and 驚く besides casual/formal?


Sorry for the "what is the the difference" question, but my usual sources
didn't give me a satisfactory answer (「同じです。」...).

From the ways I've seen them used, there seems to be some difference in
meaning though.

My understanding is that びっくり implies a sudden surprise like a jumpscare,
whereas 驚く is a more "calm" surprise, as in "I am surprised that X is the
case".

Am I reading too much into the usage here?

What confuses me though is 「驚いて飛び上がる」 (Though I can see why 「びっくりして飛び上がる」
would sound somewhat redundant).




びっくりする is more informal and sounds more casual/colloquial than 驚く.

Related:

  * [How to say "surprising" in Japanese](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/17533/9831) `びっくりする: (verb) Be surprised. informal, but not a dialect.`

  * [How to say something is not unusually x](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/24989/9831) `びっくりするほど would sound casual and colloquial.`

* * *

> What confuses me though is 「驚いて飛び上がる」 (Though I can see why 「びっくりして飛び上がる」
> would sound somewhat redundant).

びっくりして飛び上がる doesn't sound redundant to my native ear. びっくりして飛び上がる sounds more
casual and colloquial than 驚いて飛び上がる. I would expect to see/hear 驚いて飛び上がった in
writing or formal speech, and びっくりして飛び上がった in daily conversation.




びっくりする is more informal and sounds more casual/colloquial than 驚く.

Related:

  * [How to say "surprising" in Japanese](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/17533/9831) `びっくりする: (verb) Be surprised. informal, but not a dialect.`

  * [How to say something is not unusually x](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/24989/9831) `びっくりするほど would sound casual and colloquial.`

* * *

> What confuses me though is 「驚いて飛び上がる」 (Though I can see why 「びっくりして飛び上がる」
> would sound somewhat redundant).

びっくりして飛び上がる doesn't sound redundant to my native ear. びっくりして飛び上がる sounds more
casual and colloquial than 驚いて飛び上がる. I would expect to see/hear 驚いて飛び上がった in
writing or formal speech, and びっくりして飛び上がった in daily conversation.

