飲む
no-mu
In Japanese you 'drink' a pill — one throat, one direction
The picture Something enters the mouth and runs straight down the throat without being chewed. 飲む sends it down the throat unchewed; 食べる chews it into the body.
Where the picture shows up in 飲む
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Water runs down the throat
水をたくさん飲んでください。
mizu o takusan nonde kudasai
Please drink plenty of water.
The cup tips and water runs down the throat in one unbroken line.
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A pill goes down whole
食後にこの薬を飲みます。
shokugo ni kono kusuri o nomi-masu
I take this medicine after meals.
The tablet sits on the tongue unchewed and rides down with the water.
English 'take medicine' is 薬を飲む in Japanese; 食べる would picture chewing the pill.
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Alcohol going down
今日はお酒を飲みません。
kyō wa o-sake o nomi-masen
I'm not drinking today.
The poured glass stays on the table and never reaches the lips.
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Making a seat for a cup
お茶を飲みに行きましょう。
o-cha o nomi ni iki-mashō
Let's go have some tea.
Work is set down, and at a tea shop a cup is tipped toward the throat.
飲みに行く means going out for a drink — the occasion, not just the liquid.
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Nothing may go down
検査の前は何も飲まないでください。
kensa no mae wa nani mo nomanai de kudasai
Please don't drink anything before the test.
A line is drawn at the throat and even water is stopped from going down.
All of it in one picture
飲む is one picture: a line running down the throat. Water runs down, and you drink; a pill goes down whole, and you take medicine; sake runs down, and you are drinking; make a seat where a cup can be tipped into the throat, and you are going out for tea; let nothing at all go down, and you are fasting. That is why Japanese says you 'drink' a pill.