help oneself

1. Make an effort on one's own behalf. Shakespeare used this expression in 2 Henry IV (3:2): “She is old, and cannot help herself,” and it also appears in the old proverb, God (or heaven ) helps those who help themselves . [First half of 1500s] Also see can't help .

2. Serve oneself, as in The food's in the kitchen; just help yourself . When it takes an object this phrase is put as help oneself to , as in I helped myself to more meat . It also is used as a euphemism for stealing, as in She simply helped herself to the hotel towels and left . The first usage dates from the late 1600s; the second, a colloquialism, from the mid-1800s.

Example Sentences

When the Bundy-types refuse to pay for grazing they are bilking their fellow citizens - it's no different than mooching in to the General Store and helping oneself.

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“Just as much as we believe in the social safety net, we also believe it’s a sin not to help oneself.”

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The food, Mr. Bruce said, couldn’t be overly fancy or ornate, or it would be too difficult to help oneself.

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A few minutes later, he was replaced by a group of men having an intense discussion about the Congolese mineral trade — “self-help,” perhaps meaning helping oneself to that country’s riches.

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"It's a nonsensical idea," he told an audience at the London Film Festival, likening the notion to helping oneself to "free shirts" in a clothing store.

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