diff --git a/mercurial/commands.py b/mercurial/commands.py
--- a/mercurial/commands.py
+++ b/mercurial/commands.py
@@ -726,10 +726,10 @@ def bookmark(ui, repo, mark=None, rev=No
              rename=None, inactive=False):
     '''track a line of development with movable markers
 
-    Bookmarks are pointers to certain commits that move when
-    committing. Bookmarks are local. They can be renamed, copied and
-    deleted. It is possible to use bookmark names in :hg:`merge` and
-    :hg:`update` to merge and update respectively to a given bookmark.
+    Bookmarks are pointers to certain commits that move when committing.
+    Bookmarks are local. They can be renamed, copied and deleted. It is
+    possible to use :hg:`merge NAME` to merge from a given bookmark, and
+    :hg:`update NAME` to update to a given bookmark.
 
     You can use :hg:`bookmark NAME` to set a bookmark on the working
     directory's parent revision with the given name. If you specify