diff --git a/aider/args.py b/aider/args.py
index 567160abe..5b94097a8 100644
--- a/aider/args.py
+++ b/aider/args.py
@@ -237,8 +237,10 @@ def get_parser(default_config_files, git_root):
         type=int,
         default=None,
         help=(
-            "Maximum number of tokens to use for chat history. If not specified, uses the model's"
-            " max_chat_history_tokens."
+            (
+                "Soft limit on tokens for chat history, after which summarization begins."
+                " If unspecified, defaults to the model's max_chat_history_tokens."
+            ),
         ),
     )
     # This is a duplicate of the argument in the preparser and is a no-op by this time of