diff --git a/mercurial/commands.py b/mercurial/commands.py
--- a/mercurial/commands.py
+++ b/mercurial/commands.py
@@ -4295,7 +4295,7 @@ commitopts = [
 
 commitopts2 = [
     ('d', 'date', '',
-     _('record datecode as commit date'), _('DATE')),
+     _('record the specified date as commit date'), _('DATE')),
     ('u', 'user', '',
      _('record the specified user as committer'), _('USER')),
 ]
diff --git a/tests/test-qrecord.t b/tests/test-qrecord.t
--- a/tests/test-qrecord.t
+++ b/tests/test-qrecord.t
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ help record (record)
    -X --exclude PATTERN [+]  exclude names matching the given patterns
    -m --message TEXT         use text as commit message
    -l --logfile FILE         read commit message from file
-   -d --date DATE            record datecode as commit date
+   -d --date DATE            record the specified date as commit date
    -u --user USER            record the specified user as committer
   
   [+] marked option can be specified multiple times