diff --git a/doc/sample.nanorc.in b/doc/sample.nanorc.in
index c78ec5e2..21936017 100644
--- a/doc/sample.nanorc.in
+++ b/doc/sample.nanorc.in
@@ -1,9 +1,7 @@
 ## Sample initialization file for GNU nano.
 ##
-## Please note that you must have configured nano with --enable-nanorc
-## for this file to be read!  Also note that this file should not be in
-## DOS or Mac format, and that characters specially interpreted by the
-## shell should not be escaped here.
+## This file should not be in DOS or Mac format, and characters
+## specially interpreted by the shell should not be escaped here.
 ##
 ## To make sure an option is disabled, use "unset <option>".
 ##
@@ -53,9 +51,9 @@
 # set cutfromcursor
 ## (The old form, 'cut', is deprecated.)
 
-## Set the line length for wrapping text and justifying paragraphs.
-## If the value is 0 or less, the wrapping point will be the screen
-## width less this number.
+## Enable hard-wrapping and set the target width, both for automatic
+## line wrapping and for justifying paragraphs.  If the value is 0 or
+## less, the wrapping point will be the screen width minus this number.
 # set fill -8
 
 ## Remember the used search/replace strings for the next session.
@@ -100,7 +98,7 @@
 ## last one will be readable (when there are multiple ones).
 # set nopauses
 
-## Don't wrap text at all.
+## Do not automatically hard-wrap text.
 # set nowrap
 
 ## Set operating directory.  nano will not read or write files outside
@@ -149,7 +147,7 @@
 ## beginning of the line.
 # set smarthome
 
-## Use smooth scrolling as the default.
+## Use line-by-line scrolling instead of chunk-by-chunk.
 # set smooth
 
 ## Enable soft line wrapping (AKA full-line display).
@@ -233,9 +231,9 @@
 ## "color" will do case-sensitive matches, while "icolor" will do
 ## case-insensitive matches.
 ##
-## Valid colors: white, black, red, blue, green, yellow, magenta, cyan.
-## For foreground colors, you may use the prefix "bright" to get a
-## stronger highlight.
+## Valid color names ares: white, black, normal, red, blue, green,
+## yellow, magenta, cyan.  For foreground colors, you may use the
+## prefix "bright" to get a stronger highlight.
 ##
 ## To use multi-line regexes, use the start="regex" end="regex"
 ## [start="regex" end="regex"...] format.