@table @code
@item http_proxy
@itemx https_proxy
-This variable should contain the @sc{url} of the proxy for @sc{http}
-and @sc{https} connections.
+If set, the @code{http_proxy} and @code{https_proxy} variables should
+contain the @sc{url}s of the proxies for @sc{http} and @sc{https}
+connections respectively.
@item ftp_proxy
This variable should contain the @sc{url} of the proxy for @sc{ftp}
-connections. It is quite common that @sc{http_proxy} and @sc{ftp_proxy}
-are set to the same @sc{url}.
+connections. It is quite common that @code{http_proxy} and
+@code{ftp_proxy} are set to the same @sc{url}.
@item no_proxy
This variable should contain a comma-separated list of domain extensions