diff --git a/Lib/compileall.py b/Lib/compileall.py
--- a/Lib/compileall.py
+++ b/Lib/compileall.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-"""Module/script to "compile" all .py files to .pyc (or .pyo) file.
+"""Module/script to byte-compile all .py files to .pyc (or .pyo) files.
 
 When called as a script with arguments, this compiles the directories
 given as arguments recursively; the -l option prevents it from
@@ -26,10 +26,10 @@ def compile_dir(dir, maxlevels=10, ddir=
 
     dir:       the directory to byte-compile
     maxlevels: maximum recursion level (default 10)
-    ddir:      if given, purported directory name (this is the
-               directory name that will show up in error messages)
-    force:     if 1, force compilation, even if timestamps are up-to-date
-    quiet:     if 1, be quiet during compilation
+    ddir:      the directory that will be prepended to the path to the
+               file as it is compiled into each byte-code file.
+    force:     if true, force compilation, even if timestamps are up-to-date
+    quiet:     if true, be quiet during compilation
     """
     if not quiet:
         print 'Listing', dir, '...'
@@ -64,10 +64,10 @@ def compile_file(fullname, ddir=None, fo
     Arguments (only fullname is required):
 
     fullname:  the file to byte-compile
-    ddir:      if given, purported directory name (this is the
-               directory name that will show up in error messages)
-    force:     if 1, force compilation, even if timestamps are up-to-date
-    quiet:     if 1, be quiet during compilation
+    ddir:      if given, the directory name compiled in to the
+               byte-code file.
+    force:     if true, force compilation, even if timestamps are up-to-date
+    quiet:     if true, be quiet during compilation
     """
     success = 1
     name = os.path.basename(fullname)
@@ -117,8 +117,8 @@ def compile_path(skip_curdir=1, maxlevel
 
     skip_curdir: if true, skip current directory (default true)
     maxlevels:   max recursion level (default 0)
-    force: as for compile_dir() (default 0)
-    quiet: as for compile_dir() (default 0)
+    force: as for compile_dir() (default false)
+    quiet: as for compile_dir() (default false)
     """
     success = 1
     for dir in sys.path:
@@ -157,14 +157,27 @@ def main():
         print msg
         print "usage: python compileall.py [-l] [-f] [-q] [-d destdir] " \
               "[-x regexp] [-i list] [directory|file ...]"
-        print "-l: don't recurse down"
+        print
+        print "arguments: zero or more file and directory names to compile; " \
+              "if no arguments given, "
+        print "           defaults to the equivalent of -l sys.path"
+        print
+        print "options:"
+        print "-l: don't recurse into subdirectories"
         print "-f: force rebuild even if timestamps are up-to-date"
-        print "-q: quiet operation"
-        print "-d destdir: purported directory name for error messages"
-        print "   if no directory arguments, -l sys.path is assumed"
-        print "-x regexp: skip files matching the regular expression regexp"
-        print "   the regexp is searched for in the full path of the file"
-        print "-i list: expand list with its content (file and directory names)"
+        print "-q: output only error messages"
+        print "-d destdir: directory to prepend to file paths for use in " \
+              "compile-time tracebacks and in"
+        print "            runtime tracebacks in cases where the source " \
+              "file is unavailable"
+        print "-x regexp: skip files matching the regular expression regexp; " \
+              "the regexp is searched for"
+        print "           in the full path of each file considered for " \
+              "compilation"
+        print "-i file: add all the files and directories listed in file to " \
+              "the list considered for"
+        print '         compilation; if "-", names are read from stdin'
+
         sys.exit(2)
     maxlevels = 10
     ddir = None
@@ -205,7 +218,7 @@ def main():
         else:
             success = compile_path()
     except KeyboardInterrupt:
-        print "\n[interrupt]"
+        print "\n[interrupted]"
         success = 0
     return success