diff --git a/doc_src/eval.txt b/doc_src/eval.txt
index f8af8f666..47e4627dc 100644
--- a/doc_src/eval.txt
+++ b/doc_src/eval.txt
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 \subsection eval-example Example
 
 The following code will call the ls command. Note that \c fish does not
-support the use of environment variables as direct commands; \c eval can
+support the use of shell variables as direct commands; \c eval can
 be used to work around this.
 
 <pre>
diff --git a/doc_src/index.hdr.in b/doc_src/index.hdr.in
index 51bf4e43d..9e67724ab 100644
--- a/doc_src/index.hdr.in
+++ b/doc_src/index.hdr.in
@@ -413,7 +413,7 @@ command line.
 These are the general purpose tab completions that \c fish provides:
 
 - Completion of commands (builtins, functions and regular programs).
-- Completion of environment variable names.
+- Completion of shell variable names.
 - Completion of usernames for tilde expansion.
 - Completion of filenames, even on strings with wildcards such as '*', '**' and '?'.
 - Completion of job ID, job name and process names for <a href="#expand-process">process expansion</a>.
@@ -559,7 +559,7 @@ undergoes the process of parameter expansion before it is sent on to
 the command. Parameter expansion is a powerful mechanism that
 allows you to expand the parameter in various ways, including
 performing wildcard matching on files, inserting the value of
-environment variables into the parameter or even using the output of
+a shell variable into the parameter or even using the output of
 another command as a parameter list.
 
 \subsection expand-wildcard Wildcards
@@ -634,10 +634,10 @@ The command <code>mv *.{c,h} src/</code> moves all files with the suffix
 
 \subsection expand-variable Variable expansion
 
-A dollar sign followed by a string of characters is expanded into the
-value of the environment variable with the same name. For an
-introduction to the concept of environment variables, read the <a
-href="#variables">Environment variables</a> section.
+A dollar sign followed by a string of characters is expanded into the 
+value of the shell variable with the same name. For an 
+introduction to the concept of shell variables, read the 
+<a href="#variables">Shell variables</a> section.
 
 Undefined and empty variables expand to nothing.
 
@@ -699,7 +699,7 @@ instead be expressed as <code>$$foo[1][5]</code>.
 
 \subsection expand-index-range Index range expansion
 
-Both command substitution and environment variables support accessing only 
+Both command substitution and shell variable expansion support accessing only 
 specific items by providing a set of indices in square brackets. It's 
 often needed to access a sequence of elements. To do this, use the range
 operator '..' for this. A range <code>'a..b'</code>, where range limits 'a'
@@ -799,10 +799,12 @@ If the current directory contains the files 'foo' and 'bar', the command
 will output 'abar1 abar2 abar3 afoo1 afoo2 afoo3'.
 
 
-\section variables Environment variables
+\section variables Shell variables
 
-Environment variables are named pieces of data, which can be created, deleted
-and their values changed and used by the user.
+Shell variables are named pieces of data, which can be created, deleted
+and their values changed and used by the user.  Variables may optionally be "exported", so
+that a copy of the variable is available to any subprocesses the shell creates. An
+exported variable is referred to as an "environment variable".
 
 To set a variable value, use the <a href="commands.html#set"> \c set
 command</a>.
diff --git a/doc_src/math.txt b/doc_src/math.txt
index 9904a2cce..8e1fd3b51 100644
--- a/doc_src/math.txt
+++ b/doc_src/math.txt
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ or a pipeline.
 For a description of the syntax supported by math, see the manual for
 the bc program. Keep in mind that parameter expansion takes place on
 any expressions before they are evaluated. This can be very useful in
-order to perform calculations involving environment variables or the
+order to perform calculations involving shell variables or the
 output of command substitutions, but it also means that parenthesis
 have to be escaped.
 
diff --git a/doc_src/read.txt b/doc_src/read.txt
index 1e8aef373..bb13f991b 100644
--- a/doc_src/read.txt
+++ b/doc_src/read.txt
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 \subsection read-description Description
 
 <tt>read</tt> reads one line from standard
-input and stores the result in one or more environment variables.
+input and stores the result in one or more shell variables.
 
 The following options are available:
 
@@ -17,17 +17,17 @@ The following options are available:
 - <tt>-p PROMPT_CMD</tt> or <tt>--prompt=PROMPT_CMD</tt> uses the output of the shell command \c PROMPT_CMD as the prompt for the interactive mode. The default prompt command is <tt>set_color green; echo read; set_color normal; echo "> "</tt>.
 - <code>-s</code> or <code>--shell</code> enables syntax highlighting, tab completions and command termination suitable for entering shellscript code in the interactive mode.
 - <code>-u</code> or <code>--unexport</code> prevents the variables from being exported to child processes (default behaviour).
-- <code>-U</code> or <code>--universal</code> causes the specified environment variable to be made universal.
+- <code>-U</code> or <code>--universal</code> causes the specified shell variable to be made universal.
 - <code>-x</code> or <code>--export</code> exports the variables to child processes.
 
 \c read reads a single line of input from stdin, breaks it into tokens
-based on the <tt>IFS</tt> environment variable, and then assigns one
+based on the <tt>IFS</tt> shell variable, and then assigns one
 token to each variable specified in <tt>VARIABLES</tt>. If there are more
 tokens than variables, the complete remainder is assigned to the last variable.
 
 \subsection read-example Example
 
-The following code stores the value 'hello' in the environment variable
+The following code stores the value 'hello' in the shell variable
 <tt>$foo</tt>.
 
 <tt>echo hello|read foo</tt>
diff --git a/doc_src/set.txt b/doc_src/set.txt
index e9e67392e..a78d30468 100644
--- a/doc_src/set.txt
+++ b/doc_src/set.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-\section set set - display and change environment variables.
+\section set set - display and change shell variables.
 
 \subsection set-synopsis Synopsis
 <pre>
@@ -12,11 +12,11 @@ set (-e | --erase) [SCOPE_OPTIONS] VARIABLE_NAME[INDICES]...
 
 \subsection set-description Description
 
-<code>set</code> manipulates <a href="index.html#variables">environment
+<code>set</code> manipulates <a href="index.html#variables">shell
 variables</a>.
 
 If set is called with no arguments, the names and values of all
-environment variables are printed. If some of the scope or export
+shell variables are printed. If some of the scope or export
 flags have been given, only the variables matching the specified scope
 are printed.
 
@@ -24,15 +24,15 @@ With both variable names and values provided, \c set assigns the variable
 <code>VARIABLE_NAME</code> the values <code>VALUES...</code>.
 
 The following options control variable scope:
-- <code>-l</code> or <code>--local</code> forces the specified environment variable to be given a scope that is local to the current block, even if a variable with the given name exists and is non-local
-- <code>-g</code> or <code>--global</code> causes the specified environment variable to be given a global scope. Non-global variables disappear when the block they belong to ends
-- <code>-U</code> or <code>--universal</code> causes the specified environment variable to be given a universal scope. If this option is supplied, the variable will be shared between all the current users fish instances on the current computer, and will be preserved across restarts of the shell.
+- <code>-l</code> or <code>--local</code> forces the specified shell variable to be given a scope that is local to the current block, even if a variable with the given name exists and is non-local
+- <code>-g</code> or <code>--global</code> causes the specified shell variable to be given a global scope. Non-global variables disappear when the block they belong to ends
+- <code>-U</code> or <code>--universal</code> causes the specified shell variable to be given a universal scope. If this option is supplied, the variable will be shared between all the current users fish instances on the current computer, and will be preserved across restarts of the shell.
 - <code>-n</code> or <code>--names</code> List only the names of all defined variables, not their value
-- <code>-u</code> or <code>--unexport</code> causes the specified environment not to be exported to child processes
-- <code>-x</code> or <code>--export</code> causes the specified environment variable to be exported to child processes
+- <code>-x</code> or <code>--export</code> causes the specified shell variable to be exported to child processes (making it an "environment variable")
+- <code>-u</code> or <code>--unexport</code> causes the specified shell variable to NOT be exported to child processes
 
 The following options are available:
-- <code>-e</code> or <code>--erase</code> causes the specified environment variable to be erased
+- <code>-e</code> or <code>--erase</code> causes the specified shell variable to be erased
 - <code>-q</code> or <code>--query</code> test if the specified variable names are defined. Does not output anything, but the builtins exit status is the number of variables specified that were not defined.
 - <code>-L</code> or <code>--long</code> do not abbreviate long values when printing set variables
 
diff --git a/doc_src/source.txt b/doc_src/source.txt
index 786577dc4..8798e9d9f 100644
--- a/doc_src/source.txt
+++ b/doc_src/source.txt
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 shell. This is different from starting a new process to perform the
 commands (i.e. <tt>fish < FILENAME</tt>) since the commands will be
 evaluated by the current shell, which means that changes in
-environment variables affect the current shell. If additional arguments are
+shell variables will affect the current shell. If additional arguments are
 specified after the file name, they will be inserted into the $argv
 variable.
 
diff --git a/doc_src/tutorial.hdr b/doc_src/tutorial.hdr
index f28541b82..58f925d5e 100644
--- a/doc_src/tutorial.hdr
+++ b/doc_src/tutorial.hdr
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ h3 { font-size: 110%; }
                 <li><a href="#tut_tab_completions"><span class="chevron">&rsaquo;</span> Tab Completions</a></li>
                 <li><a href="#tut_variables"><span class="chevron">&rsaquo;</span> Variables</a></li>
                 <li><a href="#tut_exit_status"><span class="chevron">&rsaquo;</span> Exit Status</a></li>
-                <li><a href="#tut_exports"><span class="chevron">&rsaquo;</span> Environment Variables</a></li>
+                <li><a href="#tut_exports"><span class="chevron">&rsaquo;</span> Shell Variables</a></li>
                 <li><a href="#tut_lists"><span class="chevron">&rsaquo;</span> Lists</a></li>
                 <li><a href="#tut_command_substitutions"><span class="chevron">&rsaquo;</span> Command Substitutions</a></li>
                 <li><a href="#tut_combiners"><span class="chevron">&rsaquo;</span> Combiners (And, Or, Not)</a></li>
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ fish has excellent help and man pages. Run <tt>help</tt> to open help in a web b
 
 <pre>
 > <b>man</b> <i>set</i>
-set - handle environment variables
+set - handle shell variables
   Synopsis...
 </pre>
 
@@ -429,7 +429,7 @@ Unlike other shells, fish stores the exit status of the last command in <tt>$sta
 
 Zero is considered success, and non-zero is failure.
 
-<h2 id="tut_exports">Exports (Environment Variables)</h2>
+<h2 id="tut_exports">Exports (Shell Variables)</h2>
 
 Unlike other shells, fish does not have an export command. Instead, a variable is exported via an option to <tt>set</tt>, either <tt>--export</tt> or just <tt>-x</tt>.