diff --git a/go/vt/discovery/replicationlag.go b/go/vt/discovery/replicationlag.go
index b527bfb8abf..4840bd6205f 100644
--- a/go/vt/discovery/replicationlag.go
+++ b/go/vt/discovery/replicationlag.go
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ import (
 var (
 	// lowReplicationLag defines the duration that replication lag is low enough that the VTTablet is considered healthy.
 	lowReplicationLag             = flag.Duration("discovery_low_replication_lag", 30*time.Second, "the replication lag that is considered low enough to be healthy")
-	highReplicationLagMinServing  = flag.Duration("discovery_high_replication_lag_minimum_serving", 2*time.Hour, "the replication lag that is considered too high when selecting the minimum num vttablets for serving")
-	minNumTablets                 = flag.Int("min_number_serving_vttablets", 2, "the minimum number of vttablets that will be continue to be used even with low replication lag")
+	highReplicationLagMinServing  = flag.Duration("discovery_high_replication_lag_minimum_serving", 2*time.Hour, "the replication lag that is considered too high when applying the min_number_serving_vttablets threshold")
+	minNumTablets                 = flag.Int("min_number_serving_vttablets", 2, "the minimum number of vttablets for each replicating tablet_type (e.g. replica, rdonly) that will be continue to be used even with replication lag above discovery_low_replication_lag, but still below discovery_high_replication_lag_minimum_serving")
 	legacyReplicationLagAlgorithm = flag.Bool("legacy_replication_lag_algorithm", true, "use the legacy algorithm when selecting the vttablets for serving")
 )
 
diff --git a/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/tabletenv/config.go b/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/tabletenv/config.go
index f68e8da3c0f..1a25f8c7d01 100644
--- a/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/tabletenv/config.go
+++ b/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/tabletenv/config.go
@@ -149,8 +149,8 @@ func init() {
 	flag.BoolVar(&currentConfig.CacheResultFields, "enable-query-plan-field-caching", defaultConfig.CacheResultFields, "This option fetches & caches fields (columns) when storing query plans")
 
 	flag.DurationVar(&healthCheckInterval, "health_check_interval", 20*time.Second, "Interval between health checks")
-	flag.DurationVar(&degradedThreshold, "degraded_threshold", 30*time.Second, "replication lag after which a replica is considered degraded (only used in status UI)")
-	flag.DurationVar(&unhealthyThreshold, "unhealthy_threshold", 2*time.Hour, "replication lag  after which a replica is considered unhealthy")
+	flag.DurationVar(&degradedThreshold, "degraded_threshold", 30*time.Second, "replication lag after which a replica is considered degraded")
+	flag.DurationVar(&unhealthyThreshold, "unhealthy_threshold", 2*time.Hour, "replication lag after which a replica is considered unhealthy")
 	flag.DurationVar(&transitionGracePeriod, "serving_state_grace_period", 0, "how long to pause after broadcasting health to vtgate, before enforcing a new serving state")
 
 	flag.BoolVar(&enableReplicationReporter, "enable_replication_reporter", false, "Use polling to track replication lag.")