Edit: er nevermind, a re-boot seemed to have fixed it ( trick next time would be to test out the help somewhere else like iPhoto or something ).
.......or "keyboard shortcuts".
Just ran "software update" from the "About this mac" dropdown.
Guess I forgot the old, if it ain't broke don't fix it rule.
This happened to anyone else, or more usefully, does anyone know how to get the "help" back?
( I updated everything offerred, so the problem could lie in a myriad of places, the OSX update for example)