diff --git a/docs/reference/mapping/types/date.asciidoc b/docs/reference/mapping/types/date.asciidoc
index 1eccc414a9c..c8067a89fdf 100644
--- a/docs/reference/mapping/types/date.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/reference/mapping/types/date.asciidoc
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 JSON doesn't have a date datatype, so dates in Elasticsearch can either be:
 
-* strings containing formatted dates, e.g. `¨2015-01-01¨` or `¨2015/01/01 12:10:30`.
+* strings containing formatted dates, e.g. `"2015-01-01"` or `"2015/01/01 12:10:30"`.
 * a long number representing _milliseconds-since-the-epoch_.
 * an integer representing _seconds-since-the-epoch_.
 
@@ -11,9 +11,13 @@ Internally, dates are converted to UTC (if the time-zone is specified) and
 stored as a long number representing milliseconds-since-the-epoch.
 
 Date formats can be customised, but if no `format` is specified then it uses
-the default: `strictDateOptionalTime||epoch_millis`. This means that it will
-accept dates with optional timestamps, which conform to the formats supported
-by <<strict-date-time,`strictDateOptionalTime`>> or milliseconds-since-the-epoch.
+the default:
+
+    "strict_date_optional_time||epoch_millis"
+
+This means that it will accept dates with optional timestamps, which conform
+to the formats supported by <<strict-date-time,`strict_date_optional_time`>>
+or milliseconds-since-the-epoch.
 
 For instance:
 
@@ -99,7 +103,7 @@ The following parameters are accepted by `date` fields:
 <<mapping-date-format,`format`>>::
 
     The date format(s) that can be parsed.  Defaults to
-    `epoch_millis||strictDateOptionalTime`.
+    `strict_date_optional_time||epoch_millis`.
 
 <<ignore-malformed,`ignore_malformed`>>::