diff --git a/annogen.py b/annogen.py
index dc28d15959cdad56915e2e112840e1eee0fb3def..3e6bf4cd59012a33e1153da301a5da3f6b390247 100755
--- a/annogen.py
+++ b/annogen.py
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ parser.add_option("--c-compiler",default="cc -o annotator"+exe,help="The C compi
 # clang with --max-or-length=100 and --nested-switch=0 is not slowed much by -Os (slowed considerably by -O3). -Os and -Oz gave same size in my tests.
 # on 64-bit distros -m32 won't always work and won't necessarily give a smaller program
 
-parser.add_option("--max-or-length",default=100,help="The maximum number of items allowed in an OR-expression in the C code (used when ybytes is in effect). When an OR-expression becomes larger than this limit, it will be made into a function. 0 means unlimited, which works for tcc and gcc; many other compilers have limits. Default: %default")
+parser.add_option("--max-or-length",default=100,help="The maximum number of items allowed in an OR-expression in C and Java code (used when ybytes is in effect). When an OR-expression becomes larger than this limit, it will be made into a function. 0 means unlimited, which works for tcc and gcc; many other compilers have limits. Default: %default")
 
 parser.add_option("--nested-switch",default=0,
                   help="Allow C and Java switch() constructs to be nested to about this depth.  Default 0 tries to avoid nesting, as it slows down most C compilers for little gain in executable size.  Setting 1 nests 1 level deeper which can occasionally help get around memory problems with Java compilers.  -1 means nest to unlimited depth, which is not recommended.") # tcc is still fast (although that doesn't generate the smallest executables anyway)
@@ -121,13 +121,13 @@ parser.add_option("-S", "--summary-only",
 
 parser.add_option("--no-summary",
                   action="store_true",default=False,
-                  help="Don't add a rules summary at the end of the parser")
+                  help="Don't add a large rules-summary comment at the end of the parser code")
 
 parser.add_option("-O", "--summary-omit",
                   help="Filename of a text file (or a compressed .gz or .bz2 file) specifying what should be omitted from the rules summary.  Each line should be a word or phrase, a tab, and its annotation (without the mstart/mmid/mend markup).  If any rule in the summary exactly matches any of the lines in this text file, then that rule will be omitted from the summary (but still included in the parser).  Use for example to take out of the summary any entries that correspond to things you already have in your dictionary, so you can see what's new.")
 
 parser.add_option("--maxrefs",default=3,
-                  help="The maximum number of example references to record in each summary line, if references are being recorded.  Default is %default; 0 means unlimited.")
+                  help="The maximum number of example references to record in each summary line, if references are being recorded (0 means unlimited).  Default is %default.")
 
 parser.add_option("--norefs",
                   action="store_true",default=False,
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ parser.add_option("--newlines-reset",
                   action="store_false",
                   dest="ignoreNewlines",
                   default=True,
-                  help="Have the C program reset its state on every newline byte. By default newlines do not affect state such as whether a space is required before the next word, so that if the C program is used with Web Adjuster's htmlText option (which defaults to using newline separators) the spacing should be handled sensibly when there is HTML markup in mid-sentence.")
+                  help="Have the annotator reset its state on every newline byte. By default newlines do not affect state such as whether a space is required before the next word, so that if the annotator is used with Web Adjuster's htmlText option (which defaults to using newline separators) the spacing should be handled sensibly when there is HTML markup in mid-sentence.")
 
 parser.add_option("--obfuscate",
                   action="store_true",default=False,