diff --git a/Doc/tutorial/datastructures.rst b/Doc/tutorial/datastructures.rst
--- a/Doc/tutorial/datastructures.rst
+++ b/Doc/tutorial/datastructures.rst
@@ -71,7 +71,8 @@
 .. method:: list.sort()
    :noindex:
 
-   Sort the items of the list, in place.
+   Sort the items of the list, in place.  Each item needs to define an ordering
+   relationship.
 
 
 .. method:: list.reverse()
@@ -99,6 +100,11 @@
    >>> a.sort()
    >>> a
    [-1, 1, 66.25, 333, 333, 1234.5]
+   >>> a = ['abc', 3.14159, complex(1,-1), 123]
+   >>> a.sort()
+   Traceback (most recent call last):
+     File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
+   TypeError: no ordering relation is defined for complex numbers
 
 
 .. _tut-lists-as-stacks: