1 files changed, 9 insertions, 19 deletions
diff --git a/doc/coreutils.texi b/doc/coreutils.texi
index fa0f54d23..d1ddc117e 100644
--- a/doc/coreutils.texi
+++ b/doc/coreutils.texi
@@ -5922,39 +5922,29 @@ in C.
 @item --quoting-style=@var{word}
 @opindex --quoting-style
 @cindex quoting style
-Use style @var{word} to quote names.  The quoting-style algorithm
-takes a file name as input, and outputs a quoted version of the input
-name.  The @var{word} should
+Use style @var{word} to quote output names.  The @var{word} should
 be one of the following:
 @table @samp
 @item literal
-Output as-is; this is the same as the @option{-N} or
+Output names as-is; this is the same as the @option{-N} or
 @option{--literal} option.
 @item shell
-Quote for the shell if the input contains shell metacharacters or would
+Quote names for the shell if they contain shell metacharacters or would
 cause ambiguous output.
-The quoting is suitable for @acronym{POSIX}-compatible shells like
-@command{bash}, but it does not always work for incompatible shells
-like @command{csh}.
 @item shell-always
-Quote for the shell, even if the input would normally not require
-quoting.
+Quote names for the shell, even if they would normally not require quoting.
 @item c
-Output a C character string literal, including the surrounding
-double-quote characters; this is the same as the
+Quote names as for a C language string; this is the same as the
 @option{-Q} or @option{--quote-name} option.
 @item escape
-Output a C character string literal, except omit the
-surrounding double-quote
+Quote as with @samp{c} except omit the surrounding double-quote
 characters; this is the same as the @option{-b} or @option{--escape} option.
 @item clocale
-Output a C character string literal, except use surrounding quotation
-marks appropriate for the locale.
+Quote as with @samp{c} except use quotation marks appropriate for the
+locale.
 @item locale
 @c Use @t instead of @samp to avoid duplicate quoting in some output styles.
-Output a C character string literal, except use surrounding
-quotation marks appropriate for the locale, and quote @t{`like this'}
-instead of @t{"like
+Like @samp{clocale}, but quote @t{`like this'} instead of @t{"like
 this"} in the default C locale.  This looks nicer on many displays.
 @end table