좀
jom
It shrinks the request, not the amount
The picture You fold a request or a complaint small in your palm before holding it out. The actual size hasn't changed. 좀 folds the weight of the words; 조금 really means a small amount. 물 좀 주세요 asks for a glass of water; 물 조금만 주세요 asks for the glass only part-filled.
Where the picture shows up in 좀
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folding a request small
물 좀 주세요.
mul jom ju-se-yo
Could I have some water?
The request for water folded once in your palm before you hold it out.
Not 'only a little water'. Without 좀 it lands like an order.
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folding a complaint small
이거 좀 비싸네요.
i-geo jom bi-ssa-ne-yo
That's a bit pricey.
A complaint about the price folded small and set down lightly, with a glance at the other person.
Often it really means 'way too expensive'.
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lightening what you ask of someone's time
잠깐만 좀 기다려 주세요.
jam-kkan-man jom gi-da-ryeo ju-se-yo
Could you wait just a moment?
Asking for a sliver of someone's time, thumb and finger held barely apart.
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playing down a call for help
저 좀 도와주세요.
jeo jom do-wa-ju-se-yo
Could you give me a hand?
A call for help folded until it weighs nothing, then slipped onto the other person's hand.
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playing down your own condition
오늘 몸이 좀 안 좋아요.
o-neul mo-mi jom an jo-a-yo
I'm not feeling great today.
Today's aching body cupped in your palm, folded small, and shown to the other person.
People say this when they feel awful too. Don't read 좀 as literally 'slightly'.
All of it in one picture
좀 is the motion of folding what you say once in your palm. Fold the request for water and the asking gets light; fold the complaint about the price and its edge goes dull; hold up a sliver of time and the burden on the other person shrinks; a call for help only lands on someone's hand after its weight has been taken out. Even an aching body, folded small, keeps the listener from being crushed by worry. Yet the water, the price and the ache are exactly as they were — what 좀 shrinks is never the content, only the weight the words set on the other person.