When hg is invoked without parameters, the short list help is displayed. When hg is executed without parameters ( or hg is executed with the 'help shortlist' command ) the short help list is displayed. If the 'help' command is passed on the commandline the full help list is displayed. In both the cases if the switch '-v' is passed, the help contains also the aliases of the short/full commands list and the global switches.

+ hg init
+ hg add a
+ hg commit -m ancestor -d 0 0
+ hg commit -m branch1 -d 0 0
+ hg co 0
+ hg commit -m branch2 -d 0 0
+ hg up -m 1
merge: warning: conflicts during merge
merging a
merging a failed!
+ hg id
32e80765d7fe+75234512624c+ tip
something else
=======
something
+ hg status
M a