툭
tuk
A tap on the shoulder and a dropped call: same word
The picture Something light landing or coming loose once, and whatever was connected is simply done. 툭 is one light tap or drop; 쿵 is one heavy collision.
Where the picture shows up in 툭
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a fingertip calling you
어깨를 툭 쳤어요.
eo-kkae-reul tuk chyeo-sseo-yo
I tapped him on the shoulder.
Someone steps up from behind, touches the shoulder once with a fingertip, and lifts it away
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a button whose thread gave out
단추가 툭 떨어졌어요.
dan-chu-ga tuk tteo-reo-jyeo-sseo-yo
The button came off.
The shirt is tugged and the button slips off its thread toward the floor
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a voice cut mid-sentence
전화가 툭 끊겼어요.
jeon-hwa-ga tuk kkeun-kyeo-sseo-yo
The call suddenly dropped.
The other voice disappears from the receiver halfway through a sentence and all goes quiet
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a remark tossed out of nowhere
한마디 툭 던졌어요.
han-ma-di tuk deon-jyeo-sseo-yo
He tossed out one remark.
One unexplained sentence set down in a quiet room, then a closed mouth
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a tear that finally fell
눈물이 툭 떨어졌어요.
nun-mu-ri tuk tteo-reo-jyeo-sseo-yo
A tear fell.
Water held in the eye letting go of exactly one drop onto the knee
All of it in one picture
툭 is one light touch and then nothing. On a shoulder it is a fingertip calling you; on a shirt it is a button whose thread gave out; on a phone it is a voice vanishing mid-sentence. From a mouth it is a remark tossed out with nothing around it, and from an eye it is the one tear that finally fell.