help
help
Help is not assisting — it is sliding your hand under someone's load
The picture A hand slides under the load someone was carrying alone and takes half the weight. Help takes half the load; doing it for someone takes the whole load away from them.
Where the picture shows up in help
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a hand under a box
Can you help me carry this box?
kæn juː help miː ˈkæri ðɪs bɑːks
Give me a hand with this box?
Two more hands come in under the tipping side of a box.
In help + person + verb, the to is normally dropped.
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a hand under the pain
This medicine helps with the pain.
ðɪs ˈmedsən helps wɪð ðə peɪn
This medicine takes the edge off.
One tablet slides under the pressing weight of the ache and holds part of it up.
It need not remove the weight — sharing it is already help.
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an open hand offered first
How can I help you today?
haʊ kæn aɪ help juː təˈdeɪ
What can I do for you?
A counter assistant turns a palm upward and holds it out toward the customer's load.
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moving your hand so they lift it themselves
Help yourself to the coffee.
help jɔːrˈself tuː ðə ˈkɔːfi
Coffee is there, go ahead.
The hand blocking the pot steps aside so the guest can pour for themselves.
Help yourself puts their hand to work instead of yours.
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no hand to slide under
I could not help laughing.
aɪ kʊd nɑːt help ˈlæfɪŋ
I just could not keep a straight face.
A laugh comes up and there is no hand anywhere to put under it, so it spills out.
Cannot help + ing comes from this picture of having no hand to hold it back.
All of it in one picture
Help is a hand going under a load. Under a box it means lifting together; under pain it means the tablet carries some of the weight; held out open across a counter it becomes how can I help you. Move your hand out of the way of the coffee pot and you are telling someone to pour their own, and when there is no hand to slide under a rising laugh, you could not help it.