diff --git a/docs/FAQ b/docs/FAQ
index e3814b343..8d4b9f2f1 100644
--- a/docs/FAQ
+++ b/docs/FAQ
@@ -658,22 +658,22 @@ FAQ
 
   4.2 Why do I get problems when I use & or % in the URL?
 
-  In general unix shells, the & letter is treated specially and when used, it
+  In general unix shells, the & symbol is treated specially and when used, it
   runs the specified command in the background. To safely send the & as a part
   of a URL, you should quote the entire URL by using single (') or double (")
   quotes around it. Similar problems can also occur on some shells with other
   characters, including ?*!$~(){}<>\|;`.  When in doubt, quote the URL.
 
-  An example that would invoke a remote CGI that uses &-letters could be:
+  An example that would invoke a remote CGI that uses &-symbols could be:
 
      curl 'http://www.altavista.com/cgi-bin/query?text=yes&q=curl'
 
-  In Windows, the standard DOS shell treats the %-letter specially and you
-  need to use TWO %-letters for each single one you want to use in the URL.
+  In Windows, the standard DOS shell treats the %-symbol specially and you
+  need to use TWO %-symbols for each single one you want to use in the URL.
 
-  Also note that if you want the literal %-letter to be part of the data you
+  Also note that if you want the literal %-symbol to be part of the data you
   pass in a POST using -d/--data you must encode it as '%25' (which then also
-  needs the %-letter doubled on Windows machines).
+  needs the %-symbol doubled on Windows machines).
 
   4.3 How can I use {, }, [ or ] to specify multiple URLs?
 
diff --git a/docs/MANUAL b/docs/MANUAL
index 417befb37..b59231a03 100644
--- a/docs/MANUAL
+++ b/docs/MANUAL
@@ -512,7 +512,7 @@ CONFIG FILE
   can also specify the long options without the dashes to make it more
   readable. You can separate the options and the parameter with spaces, or
   with = or :. Comments can be used within the file. If the first letter on a
-  line is a '#'-letter the rest of the line is treated as a comment.
+  line is a '#'-symbol the rest of the line is treated as a comment.
 
   If you want the parameter to contain spaces, you must enclose the entire
   parameter within double quotes ("). Within those quotes, you specify a