diff --git a/rc/bin/approx b/rc/bin/approx
index b790da532..98dc89a5a 100755
--- a/rc/bin/approx
+++ b/rc/bin/approx
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/rc
 if(! ~ $#* 3){
-	echo usage: approx ratio min max
+	echo usage: approx ratio min max >[1=2]
 	exit usage
 }
 echo $1 $2 $3 | awk '
diff --git a/rc/bin/doc2txt b/rc/bin/doc2txt
index 65b68b48e..f01147ebc 100755
--- a/rc/bin/doc2txt
+++ b/rc/bin/doc2txt
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 rfork en
 
 if(! ~ $#* 0 1) {
-	echo 'Usage: doc2txt [file.doc]' >[1=2]
+	echo 'usage: doc2txt [file.doc]' >[1=2]
 	exit usage
 }
 
diff --git a/rc/bin/doctype b/rc/bin/doctype
index 0f04f91ef..5aa6cc300 100755
--- a/rc/bin/doctype
+++ b/rc/bin/doctype
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 #!/bin/rc
 # doctype:  synthesize proper command line for troff
 
+if(~ $#* 0){
+	echo 'usage: doctype [ -n ] [ -T dev ] [ file ] ...' >[1=2]
+	exit usage
+}
+
 troff=troff
 eqn=eqn
 prefer=prefer
diff --git a/rc/bin/juke b/rc/bin/juke
index a661c7f79..6a523d847 100755
--- a/rc/bin/juke
+++ b/rc/bin/juke
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ while(! ~ $#* 0) {
 		sname=$2
 		shift
 	case -*
-		echo Usage: classical [-d level] [-t] [-h srvhost]
+		echo usage: juke [-d level] [-tw] [-s srv] [-h srvhost] >[1=2]
 		exit usage
 	}
 	shift
diff --git a/rc/bin/lookman b/rc/bin/lookman
index 5854e9528..e38d16695 100755
--- a/rc/bin/lookman
+++ b/rc/bin/lookman
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ fn sigint sighup sigterm {
 
 *=`{echo $*|tr A-Z a-z|tr -dc 'a-z0-9_. \012'}	# fold case, delete funny chars
 if(~ $#* 0){
-	echo Usage: lookman key ... >/fd/2
+	echo usage: lookman key ... >/fd/2
 	exit usage
 }
 look $1 $index | sed 's/.*	//' | sort -u >$t1
diff --git a/rc/bin/lp b/rc/bin/lp
index a06848811..e7eba4e5e 100755
--- a/rc/bin/lp
+++ b/rc/bin/lp
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ flagfmt='D,H,L,Q,R,r,q,M mach,c copies,d printer,f font.size,i src,k jobnos,l li
 argv0=lp
 
 if(! ifs=() eval `{aux/getflags $*}) {
-	echo $USAGE
+	echo $USAGE >[1=2]
 	exit usage
 }
 if(~ $flagd '?'){
diff --git a/rc/bin/man b/rc/bin/man
index 042fb1cca..f002c2121 100755
--- a/rc/bin/man
+++ b/rc/bin/man
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ fn page {
 search=yes
 while(~ $d 0) {
 	if(~ $#* 0) {
-		echo 'Usage: man [-bntpPSw] [0-9] [0-9] ... name1 name2 ...' >[1=2]
-		exit
+		echo 'usage: man [-bntpPSw] [0-9] [0-9] ... name1 name2 ...' >[1=2]
+		exit usage
 	}
 	if(test -d $S/$1){
 		sec=($sec $1)
diff --git a/rc/bin/psfax b/rc/bin/psfax
index 654f53bfe..d9d197b4a 100755
--- a/rc/bin/psfax
+++ b/rc/bin/psfax
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@ case -v
 
 switch($#*){
 case 0 1
-	echo usage: $0 telephone-number recipient '[files]'
-	exit 0
+	echo usage: $0 telephone-number recipient '[files]' >[1=2]
+	exit usage
 case 2
 	stdin=yes
 }
diff --git a/rc/bin/psu b/rc/bin/psu
index d9f63fef8..0755a1817 100755
--- a/rc/bin/psu
+++ b/rc/bin/psu
@@ -15,6 +15,6 @@ case 0
 case 1
 	ps $flags | sed -n '/^'$1' /p'
 case *
-	echo Usage: psu '[ps-flags] [ user ]' >[1=2]
+	echo usage: psu '[ps-flags] [ user ]' >[1=2]
 	exit usage
 }
diff --git a/rc/bin/sig b/rc/bin/sig
index 56125ab17..918161641 100755
--- a/rc/bin/sig
+++ b/rc/bin/sig
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@
 
 *=`{echo $*|tr A-Z a-z|tr -dc 'a-z0-9_ \012'}	# fold case, delete funny chars
 if(~ $#* 0){
-	echo Usage: sig function ... >/fd/2
-	exit 1
+	echo usage: sig function ... >/fd/2
+	exit usage
 }
 
 for (i) {
diff --git a/rc/bin/ssam b/rc/bin/ssam
index dd931893d..a9e32b14e 100755
--- a/rc/bin/ssam
+++ b/rc/bin/ssam
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@ rfork e
 
 flagfmt='n,e script,f sfile'
 args='[ file ... ]'
-fn usage { echo $0 '[ -n ] [ -e script ] [ -f sfile ] [ file ... ]' >[1=2] }
+argv0=$0
+fn usage { echo usage: $argv0 '[ -n ] [ -e script ] [ -f sfile ] [ file ... ]' >[1=2] }
 if(! ifs=() eval `{aux/getflags $*}){
 	usage
 	exit usage
diff --git a/rc/bin/tap b/rc/bin/tap
index 0cc0d40af..ee40f0b95 100755
--- a/rc/bin/tap
+++ b/rc/bin/tap
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 rfork e
 
 if(~ $#* 0){
-	echo 'Usage: ' $0 '[ pid ... ]' >[1=2]
+	echo 'usage:' $0 '[ pid ... ]' >[1=2]
 	exit usage
 }
 
diff --git a/sys/man/1/mothra b/sys/man/1/mothra
index d9f5c480c..278a42f79 100644
--- a/sys/man/1/mothra
+++ b/sys/man/1/mothra
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ mothra \- retrieve and display World-Wide Web files
 .SH SYNOPSIS
 .B mothra
 [
-.B -va
+.B -dvak
 ]
 [
 .B -m
@@ -71,6 +71,9 @@ The default is
 .B -v
 Verbose mode. Causes HTML errors to be printed
 on file-descriptor 2.
+.TP
+.B -d
+Enables debug mode.
 .PP
 The display contains the last message from
 .I mothra,
diff --git a/sys/src/cmd/aan.c b/sys/src/cmd/aan.c
index 7508720f8..2c5bdbe20 100644
--- a/sys/src/cmd/aan.c
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/aan.c
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ static void		timerproc(void *);
 static void
 usage(void)
 {
-	fprint(2, "Usage: %s [-cd] [-m maxto] dialstring|netdir\n", argv0);
+	fprint(2, "usage: %s [-cd] [-m maxto] dialstring|netdir\n", argv0);
 	exits("usage");
 }
 
diff --git a/sys/src/cmd/auth/httpauth.c b/sys/src/cmd/auth/httpauth.c
index fc333de93..7d1747bfb 100644
--- a/sys/src/cmd/auth/httpauth.c
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/auth/httpauth.c
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 void
 usage(void)
 {
-	fprint(2, "Usage:\n\t%s user pass\n\t%s authorization\n", argv0, argv0);
+	fprint(2, "usage:\n\t%s user pass\n\t%s authorization\n", argv0, argv0);
 	exits("usage");
 }
 
diff --git a/sys/src/cmd/awk/main.c b/sys/src/cmd/awk/main.c
index e4244e333..74e6401c2 100644
--- a/sys/src/cmd/awk/main.c
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/awk/main.c
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ void main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
 	cmdname = argv[0];
 	if (argc == 1) {
-		Bprint(&stderr, "Usage: %s [-F fieldsep] [-mf n] [-mr n] [-v var=value] [-f programfile | 'program'] [file ...]\n", cmdname);
+		Bprint(&stderr, "usage: %s [-F fieldsep] [-d] [-mf n] [-mr n] [-safe] [-v var=value] [-f programfile | 'program'] [file ...]\n", cmdname);
 		exits("usage");
 	}
 
diff --git a/sys/src/cmd/bc.y b/sys/src/cmd/bc.y
index fbbdd15f6..a33e06e7a 100644
--- a/sys/src/cmd/bc.y
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/bc.y
@@ -956,7 +956,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 			sflag++;
 			break;
 		default:
-			fprint(2, "Usage: bc [-cdls] [file ...]\n");
+			fprint(2, "usage: bc [-cdls] [file ...]\n");
 			exits("usage");
 		}
 		argc--;
diff --git a/sys/src/cmd/colors.c b/sys/src/cmd/colors.c
index d623f4e8c..3267130f5 100644
--- a/sys/src/cmd/colors.c
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/colors.c
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
 	if(argc){
 	Usage:
-		fprint(2, "Usage: %s [-rx]\n", argv0);
+		fprint(2, "usage: %s [-rx]\n", argv0);
 		exits("usage");
 	}
 
diff --git a/sys/src/cmd/compress/compress.c b/sys/src/cmd/compress/compress.c
index 2e6e58e44..7db0dfb39 100644
--- a/sys/src/cmd/compress/compress.c
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/compress/compress.c
@@ -112,9 +112,9 @@ code_int getcode();
 Usage()
 {
 #ifdef DEBUG
-	fprintf(stderr,"Usage: compress [-cdfDV] [-b maxbits] [file ...]\n");
+	fprintf(stderr,"usage: compress [-cdfDV] [-b maxbits] [file ...]\n");
 #else
-	fprintf(stderr,"Usage: compress [-cdfvV] [-b maxbits] [file ...]\n");
+	fprintf(stderr,"usage: compress [-cdfvV] [-b maxbits] [file ...]\n");
 #endif /* DEBUG */
 }
 
diff --git a/sys/src/cmd/db/main.c b/sys/src/cmd/db/main.c
index 4c9eb4287..19c01c836 100644
--- a/sys/src/cmd/db/main.c
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/db/main.c
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 		sprint(b2, "/proc/%s/mem", argv[0]);
 		corfil = b2;
 	} else if (argc > 0) {
-		fprint(2, "Usage: db [-kw] [-m machine] [-I dir] [symfile] [pid]\n");
+		fprint(2, "usage: db [-kw] [-m machine] [-I dir] [symfile] [pid]\n");
 		exits("usage");
 	}
 	if (!symfil)
diff --git a/sys/src/cmd/dict/canonind.awk b/sys/src/cmd/dict/canonind.awk
index 41c6ee75f..a10b0810a 100644
--- a/sys/src/cmd/dict/canonind.awk
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/dict/canonind.awk
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 # turn output of mkindex into form needed by dict
 BEGIN {
 	if(ARGC != 2) {
-		print "Usage: awk -F'	' -f canonind.awk rawindex > index"
-		exit 1
+		print "usage: awk -F'	' -f canonind.awk rawindex > index"
+		exit usage
 	}
 	file = ARGV[1]
 	ARGV[1] = ""
diff --git a/sys/src/cmd/dict/dict.c b/sys/src/cmd/dict/dict.c
index d0d8494d9..c689004ef 100644
--- a/sys/src/cmd/dict/dict.c
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/dict/dict.c
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ usage(void)
 	int i;
 	char *a, *b;
 
-	Bprint(bout, "Usage: %s [-d dict] [-k] [-c cmd] [word]\n", argv0);
+	Bprint(bout, "usage: %s [-k] [-d dict] [-c cmd] [pattern]\n", argv0);
 	Bprint(bout, "dictionaries (brackets mark dictionaries not present on this system):\n");
 	for(i = 0; dicts[i].name; i++){
 		a = b = "";
diff --git a/sys/src/cmd/getmap.c b/sys/src/cmd/getmap.c
index 3db180160..ad3ad0205 100644
--- a/sys/src/cmd/getmap.c
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/getmap.c
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	int fd, id;
 
 	if(argc>2){
-		fprint(2, "Usage: %s colormap\n", argv[0]);
+		fprint(2, "usage: %s colormap\n", argv[0]);
 		exits("usage");
 	}
 	map = "rgbv";
diff --git a/sys/src/cmd/mk/main.c b/sys/src/cmd/mk/main.c
index a81e83753..8997545f2 100644
--- a/sys/src/cmd/mk/main.c
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/mk/main.c
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ void
 badusage(void)
 {
 
-	fprint(2, "Usage: mk [-f file] [-n] [-a] [-e] [-t] [-k] [-i] [-d[egp]] [targets ...]\n");
+	fprint(2, "usage: mk [-f file] [-n] [-a] [-e] [-t] [-k] [-i] [-d[egp]] [targets ...]\n");
 	Exit();
 }
 
diff --git a/sys/src/cmd/mothra/mothra.c b/sys/src/cmd/mothra/mothra.c
index 165e65620..9e30836e9 100644
--- a/sys/src/cmd/mothra/mothra.c
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/mothra/mothra.c
@@ -331,7 +331,7 @@ void main(int argc, char *argv[]){
 	switch(argc){
 	default:
 	Usage:
-		fprint(2, "Usage: %s [-dvak] [-m mtpt] [url]\n", argv0);
+		fprint(2, "usage: %s [-dvak] [-m mtpt] [url]\n", argv0);
 		exits("usage");
 	case 0:
 		url=getenv("url");
diff --git a/sys/src/cmd/ratrace.c b/sys/src/cmd/ratrace.c
index 81b2437b1..ae5bfdc5c 100644
--- a/sys/src/cmd/ratrace.c
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/ratrace.c
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ writer(int lastpid)
 void
 usage(void)
 {
-	fprint(2, "Usage: ratrace [-c cmd [arg...]] | [pid]\n");
+	fprint(2, "usage: ratrace [-c cmd [arg...]] | [pid]\n");
 	threadexits("usage");
 }
 
diff --git a/sys/src/cmd/sum.c b/sys/src/cmd/sum.c
index 05fb85eb4..396c135ca 100644
--- a/sys/src/cmd/sum.c
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/sum.c
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ static char exitstr[ERRMAX];
 void
 usage(void)
 {
-	fprint(2, "Usage: %s [-r5] [files]\n", argv0);
+	fprint(2, "usage: %s [-5r] [file ...]\n", argv0);
 	exits("usage");
 }
 
diff --git a/sys/src/cmd/swap.c b/sys/src/cmd/swap.c
index 8c3211626..8e54b5b21 100644
--- a/sys/src/cmd/swap.c
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/swap.c
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 	} ARGEND;
 
 	if(argc != 1){
-		fprint(2, "Usage: swap file\n");
+		fprint(2, "usage: swap file\n");
 		exits("usage");
 	}
 
diff --git a/sys/src/cmd/tcs/font/main.c b/sys/src/cmd/tcs/font/main.c
index acc3ea3f2..faa208521 100644
--- a/sys/src/cmd/tcs/font/main.c
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/tcs/font/main.c
@@ -82,6 +82,6 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 static void
 usage(void)
 {
-	fprint(2, "Usage: %s [-s] from to\n", argv0);
+	fprint(2, "usage: %s [-s] from to\n", argv0);
 	exits("usage");
 }
diff --git a/sys/src/cmd/tcs/font/merge.c b/sys/src/cmd/tcs/font/merge.c
index 35a5db39e..997a22409 100644
--- a/sys/src/cmd/tcs/font/merge.c
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/tcs/font/merge.c
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ bitblt(&screen, screen.r.min, b, b->r, S); bflush();sleep(5000);
 static void
 usage(void)
 {
-	fprint(2, "Usage: %s file ...\n", argv0);
+	fprint(2, "usage: %s file ...\n", argv0);
 	exits("usage");
 }
 
diff --git a/sys/src/cmd/tcs/tcs.c b/sys/src/cmd/tcs/tcs.c
index ab6954e78..e3ed46705 100644
--- a/sys/src/cmd/tcs/tcs.c
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/tcs/tcs.c
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 void
 usage(void)
 {
-	fprint(2, "Usage: %s [-slv] [-f cs] [-t cs] [file ...]\n", argv0);
+	fprint(2, "usage: %s [-slcv] [-f ics] [-t ocs] [file ...]\n", argv0);
 	verbose = 1;
 	list();
 	exits("usage");
diff --git a/sys/src/cmd/trace.c b/sys/src/cmd/trace.c
index 4d40db8c5..2678b0ff6 100644
--- a/sys/src/cmd/trace.c
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/trace.c
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ char*profdev = "/proc/trace";
 static void
 usage(void)
 {
-	fprint(2, "Usage: %s [-d profdev] [-w] [-v] [-t triggerproc] [processes]\n", argv0);
+	fprint(2, "usage: %s [-d profdev] [-w] [-v] [-t triggerproc] [pid ...]\n", argv0);
 	exits(nil);
 }
 
diff --git a/sys/src/cmd/urlencode.c b/sys/src/cmd/urlencode.c
index 1d10a977f..92488584e 100644
--- a/sys/src/cmd/urlencode.c
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/urlencode.c
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ hexdigit(int c)
 void
 usage(void)
 {
-	fprint(2, "Usage: %s [ -d ] [ file ]\n", argv0);
+	fprint(2, "usage: %s [ -d ] [ file ]\n", argv0);
 	exits("usage");
 }
 
diff --git a/sys/src/cmd/wc.c b/sys/src/cmd/wc.c
index c457fe477..7a72e6513 100644
--- a/sys/src/cmd/wc.c
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/wc.c
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	case 'b': pbadr++; break;
 	case 'c': pchar++; break;
 	default:
-		fprint(2, "Usage: %s [-lwrbc] [file ...]\n", argv0);
+		fprint(2, "usage: %s [-lwrbc] [file ...]\n", argv0);
 		exits("usage");
 	} ARGEND
 	if(pline+pword+prune+pbadr+pchar == 0) {