diff --git a/src/library/base/man/shQuote.Rd b/src/library/base/man/shQuote.Rd
index 8f060c2b0d7..b88b14ea44c 100644
--- a/src/library/base/man/shQuote.Rd
+++ b/src/library/base/man/shQuote.Rd
@@ -42,13 +42,13 @@ shQuote(string, type = c("sh", "csh", "cmd"))
   implementation does is to surround the string by double quotes and
   escape internal double quotes by a backslash.  As Windows path names
   cannot contain double quotes, this makes \code{shQuote} safe for use
-  with \code{\link{system}} and with \code{\link{shell}} if the default
-  shell is used.
+  with file paths in \code{\link{system}}, and with \code{\link{shell}}
+  if the default shell is used.
 
   It will usually be safe to use \code{shQuote} to quote arguments of a
   command, but because \code{\link{system}} does not use a shell,
   interpretation of quoted arguments is done by the run-time code of the
-  executable.  This could depend on the compiler used: Microsoft's rules
+  executable.  This may depend on the compiler used: Microsoft's rules
   for the C run-time are given at
   \url{http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms880421.aspx}.
 #endif
diff --git a/src/library/base/man/strptime.Rd b/src/library/base/man/strptime.Rd
index 7844a73a214..750fdb84f2c 100644
--- a/src/library/base/man/strptime.Rd
+++ b/src/library/base/man/strptime.Rd
@@ -69,7 +69,8 @@ ISOdate(year, month, day, hour = 12, min = 0, sec = 0, tz = "GMT")
   Locale-specific conversions to and from character strings are used
   where appropriate and available.  This affects the names of the days
   and months, the AM/PM indicator (if used) and the separators in
-  formats such as \code{\%x} and \code{\%X}.
+  formats such as \code{\%x} and \code{\%X} (via the setting of the
+  \code{LC_TIME} locale category).
 
   The details of the formats are system-specific, but the following are
   defined by the ISO C / POSIX standard for \code{strftime} and are
@@ -96,7 +97,8 @@ ISOdate(year, month, day, hour = 12, min = 0, sec = 0, tz = "GMT")
     \item{\code{\%m}}{Month as decimal number (01--12).}
     \item{\code{\%M}}{Minute as decimal number (00--59).}
     \item{\code{\%p}}{AM/PM indicator in the locale.  Used in
-      conjuction with \code{\%I} and \bold{not} with \code{\%H}.}
+      conjuction with \code{\%I} and \bold{not} with \code{\%H}.  An
+      empty string in some locales.}
     \item{\code{\%S}}{Second as decimal number (00--61), allowing for
       up to two leap-seconds (but POSIX-compliant OSes will ignore leap
       seconds).}