9 files changed, 90 insertions, 44 deletions
diff --git a/lisp/textmodes/flyspell.el b/lisp/textmodes/flyspell.el
index d496298768d..4a57d00d702 100644
--- a/lisp/textmodes/flyspell.el
+++ b/lisp/textmodes/flyspell.el
@@ -469,12 +469,14 @@ See also `flyspell-duplicate-distance'."
 ;;;###autoload(defvar flyspell-mode nil)
 ;;;###autoload
 (define-minor-mode flyspell-mode
-  "Minor mode performing on-the-fly spelling checking.
-This spawns a single Ispell process and checks each word.
-The default flyspell behavior is to highlight incorrect words.
-With no argument, this command toggles Flyspell mode.
-With a prefix argument ARG, turn Flyspell minor mode on if ARG is positive,
-otherwise turn it off.
+  "Toggle on-the-fly spell checking (Flyspell mode).
+With a prefix argument ARG, enable Flyspell mode if ARG is
+positive, and disable it otherwise.  If called from Lisp, enable
+the mode if ARG is omitted or nil.
+
+Flyspell mode is a buffer-local minor mode.  When enabled, it
+spawns a single Ispell process and checks each word.  The default
+flyspell behavior is to highlight incorrect words.
 
 Bindings:
 \\[ispell-word]: correct words (using Ispell).
diff --git a/lisp/textmodes/ispell.el b/lisp/textmodes/ispell.el
index b76b0a303df..62f899d1730 100644
--- a/lisp/textmodes/ispell.el
+++ b/lisp/textmodes/ispell.el
@@ -3462,15 +3462,21 @@ available on the net."
 
 ;;;###autoload
 (define-minor-mode ispell-minor-mode
-  "Toggle Ispell minor mode.
-With prefix argument ARG, turn Ispell minor mode on if ARG is positive,
-otherwise turn it off.
+  "Toggle last-word spell checking (Ispell minor mode).
+With a prefix argument ARG, enable Ispell minor mode if ARG is
+positive, and disable it otherwise.  If called from Lisp, enable
+the mode if ARG is omitted or nil.
 
-In Ispell minor mode, pressing SPC or RET
-warns you if the previous word is incorrectly spelled.
+Ispell minor mode is a buffer-local mior mode.  When enabled,
+typing SPC or RET warns you if the previous word is incorrectly
+spelled.
 
-All the buffer-local variables and dictionaries are ignored -- to read
-them into the running ispell process, type \\[ispell-word] SPC."
+All the buffer-local variables and dictionaries are ignored.  To
+read them into the running ispell process, type \\[ispell-word]
+SPC.
+
+For spell-checking \"on the fly\", not just after typing SPC or
+RET, use `flyspell-mode'."
   nil " Spell" ispell-minor-keymap)
 
 (defun ispell-minor-check ()
diff --git a/lisp/textmodes/nroff-mode.el b/lisp/textmodes/nroff-mode.el
index 8fb0bd85dab..1be78ed293f 100644
--- a/lisp/textmodes/nroff-mode.el
+++ b/lisp/textmodes/nroff-mode.el
@@ -297,11 +297,17 @@ automatically inserts the matching closing request after point."
       (forward-char 1))))
 
 (define-minor-mode nroff-electric-mode
-  "Toggle `nroff-electric-newline' minor mode.
-`nroff-electric-newline' forces Emacs to check for an nroff request at the
-beginning of the line, and insert the matching closing request if necessary.
-This command toggles that mode (off->on, on->off), with an argument,
-turns it on if arg is positive, otherwise off."
+  "Toggle automatic nroff request pairing (Nroff Electric mode).
+With a prefix argument ARG, enable Nroff Electric mode if ARG is
+positive, and disable it otherwise.  If called from Lisp, enable
+the mode if ARG is omitted or nil.
+
+Nroff Electric mode is a buffer-local minor mode, for use with
+`nroff-mode'.  When enabled, Emacs checks for an nroff request at
+the beginning of the line, and inserts the matching closing
+request if necessary.  This command toggles that mode (off->on,
+on->off), with an argument, turns it on if arg is positive,
+otherwise off."
   :lighter " Electric"
   (or (derived-mode-p 'nroff-mode) (error "Must be in nroff mode")))
 
diff --git a/lisp/textmodes/paragraphs.el b/lisp/textmodes/paragraphs.el
index 8fd055f7d87..b47924bc1f2 100644
--- a/lisp/textmodes/paragraphs.el
+++ b/lisp/textmodes/paragraphs.el
@@ -35,19 +35,23 @@
 
 (put 'use-hard-newlines 'permanent-local t)
 (define-minor-mode use-hard-newlines
-  "Minor mode to distinguish hard and soft newlines.
-When active, the functions `newline' and `open-line' add the
+  "Toggle distinguishing between hard and soft newlines.
+With a prefix argument ARG, enable the feature if ARG is
+positive, and disable it otherwise.  If called from Lisp, enable
+it if ARG is omitted or nil.
+
+When enabled, the functions `newline' and `open-line' add the
 text-property `hard' to newlines that they insert, and a line is
 only considered as a candidate to match `paragraph-start' or
 `paragraph-separate' if it follows a hard newline.
 
-Prefix argument says to turn mode on if positive, off if negative.
-When the mode is turned on, if there are newlines in the buffer but no hard
-newlines, ask the user whether to mark as hard any newlines preceding a
-`paragraph-start' line.  From a program, second arg INSERT specifies whether
-to do this; it can be `never' to change nothing, t or `always' to force
-marking, `guess' to try to do the right thing with no questions, nil
-or anything else to ask the user.
+When enabling, if there are newlines in the buffer but no hard
+newlines, ask the user whether to mark as hard any newlines
+preceding a `paragraph-start' line.  From a program, second arg
+INSERT specifies whether to do this; it can be `never' to change
+nothing, t or `always' to force marking, `guess' to try to do the
+right thing with no questions, nil or anything else to ask the
+user.
 
 Newlines not marked hard are called \"soft\", and are always internal
 to paragraphs.  The fill functions insert and delete only soft newlines."
diff --git a/lisp/textmodes/refill.el b/lisp/textmodes/refill.el
index 474872955b4..d60b7594c07 100644
--- a/lisp/textmodes/refill.el
+++ b/lisp/textmodes/refill.el
@@ -213,12 +213,17 @@ complex processing.")
 
 ;;;###autoload
 (define-minor-mode refill-mode
-  "Toggle Refill minor mode.
-With prefix arg, turn Refill mode on if arg is positive, otherwise turn it off.
+  "Toggle automatic refilling (Refill mode).
+With a prefix argument ARG, enable Refill mode if ARG is
+positive, and disable it otherwise.  If called from Lisp, enable
+the mode if ARG is omitted or nil.
 
-When Refill mode is on, the current paragraph will be formatted when
-changes are made within it.  Self-inserting characters only cause
-refilling if they would cause auto-filling."
+Refill mode is a buffer-local minor mode.  When enabled, the
+current paragraph is refilled as you edit.  Self-inserting
+characters only cause refilling if they would cause
+auto-filling.
+
+For true \"word wrap\" behavior, use `visual-line-mode' instead."
   :group 'refill
   :lighter " Refill"
   :keymap '(("\177" . backward-delete-char-untabify))
diff --git a/lisp/textmodes/reftex.el b/lisp/textmodes/reftex.el
index 7e150bff997..6f6993980db 100644
--- a/lisp/textmodes/reftex.el
+++ b/lisp/textmodes/reftex.el
@@ -503,7 +503,13 @@
 (put 'reftex-mode :menu-tag "RefTeX Mode")
 ;;;###autoload
 (define-minor-mode reftex-mode
-  "Minor mode with distinct support for \\label, \\ref and \\cite in LaTeX.
+  "Toggle RefTeX mode.
+With a prefix argument ARG, enable RefTeX mode if ARG is
+positive, and disable it otherwise.  If called from Lisp, enable
+the mode if ARG is omitted or nil.
+
+RefTeX mode is a buffer-local minor mode with distinct support
+for \\label, \\ref and \\cite in LaTeX.
 
 \\<reftex-mode-map>A Table of Contents of the entire (multifile) document with browsing
 capabilities is available with `\\[reftex-toc]'.
diff --git a/lisp/textmodes/rst.el b/lisp/textmodes/rst.el
index c1ce950522c..f9fda7e0a74 100644
--- a/lisp/textmodes/rst.el
+++ b/lisp/textmodes/rst.el
@@ -442,11 +442,10 @@ font-locking of blocks.
 
 ;;;###autoload
 (define-minor-mode rst-minor-mode
-  "ReST Minor Mode.
-Toggle ReST minor mode.
-With no argument, this command toggles the mode.
-Non-null prefix argument turns on the mode.
-Null prefix argument turns off the mode.
+  "Toggle ReST minor mode.
+With a prefix argument ARG, enable ReST minor mode if ARG is
+positive, and disable it otherwise.  If called from Lisp, enable
+the mode if ARG is omitted or nil.
 
 When ReST minor mode is enabled, the ReST mode keybindings
 are installed on top of the major mode bindings.  Use this
diff --git a/lisp/textmodes/sgml-mode.el b/lisp/textmodes/sgml-mode.el
index 314fbf9671b..be8dd9c9130 100644
--- a/lisp/textmodes/sgml-mode.el
+++ b/lisp/textmodes/sgml-mode.el
@@ -841,7 +841,14 @@ Return non-nil if we skipped over matched tags."
     (delete-overlay (pop sgml-electric-tag-pair-overlays))))
 
 (define-minor-mode sgml-electric-tag-pair-mode
-  "Automatically update the closing tag when editing the opening one."
+  "Toggle SGML Electric Tag Pair mode.
+With a prefix argument ARG, enable the mode if ARG is positive,
+and disable it otherwise.  If called from Lisp, enable the mode
+if ARG is omitted or nil.
+
+SGML Electric Tag Pair mode is a buffer-local minor mode for use
+with `sgml-mode' and related maor modes.  When enabled, editing
+an opening markup tag automatically updates the closing tag."
   :lighter "/e"
   (if sgml-electric-tag-pair-mode
       (progn
@@ -2024,9 +2031,14 @@ The third `match-string' will be the used in the menu.")
     (nreverse toc-index)))
 
 (define-minor-mode html-autoview-mode
-  "Toggle automatic viewing via `browse-url-of-buffer' upon saving buffer.
-With positive prefix ARG always turns viewing on, with negative ARG always off.
-Can be used as a value for `html-mode-hook'."
+  "Toggle viewing of HTML files on save (HTML Autoview mode).
+With a prefix argument ARG, enable HTML Autoview mode if ARG is
+positive, and disable it otherwise.  If called from Lisp, enable
+the mode if ARG is omitted or nil.
+
+HTML Autoview mode is a buffer-local minor mode for use with
+`html-mode'.  If enabled, saving the file automatically runs
+`browse-url-of-buffer' to view it."
   nil nil nil
   :group 'sgml
   (if html-autoview-mode
diff --git a/lisp/textmodes/tex-mode.el b/lisp/textmodes/tex-mode.el
index 428fc1db3a9..deb92fc0243 100644
--- a/lisp/textmodes/tex-mode.el
+++ b/lisp/textmodes/tex-mode.el
@@ -677,8 +677,14 @@ An alternative value is \" . \", if you use a font with a narrow period."
     (put-text-property start end 'latex-env-pair t)))
 
 (define-minor-mode latex-electric-env-pair-mode
-  "Automatically update the \\end arg when editing the \\begin one.
-And vice-versa."
+  "Toggle Latex Electric Env Pair mode.
+With a prefix argument ARG, enable the mode if ARG is positive,
+and disable it otherwise.  If called from Lisp, enable it if ARG
+is omitted or nil.
+
+Latex Electric Env Pair mode is a buffer-local minor mode for use
+with `latex-mode'.  When enabled, typing a \\begin or \\end tag
+automatically inserts its partner."
   :lighter "/e"
   (if latex-electric-env-pair-mode
       (add-hook 'before-change-functions