The paper is the other thing. I don't understand the question.

'Wet' is a concept ancestor people came up with to describe how their towels were sometimes squishy and sometimes weren't. I don't think they knew what molecules were.

Knowing that your clothes are soaked in water is useful, but knowing that a river is soaked in... river, isn't. So, that part of the definition just doesn't develop.

But also, like you're saying, 'wet' is a feeling. Dipping your hand in a pot or squeezing a sponge feel similarly, so... aren't they both wet?

So, which is it? Wet or not?

Whatever is socially expedient, I really don't care. Water feels wet is good enough for me.