Michael J Gruber [off-list ref] writes:
This also removes the misleading "if any" which sounds as if omitting
"-m" would omit the commmit message. (It meant to mean "if a merge
commit is created at all".)
Hmph, then don't we want to keep that in your clearer form, i.e.
specify merge commit message (if a merge is created at all)
An option is by definition to _specify_ something, "specify" is a waste of
space in a description of an option. E.g. in patch 3/7, --template option
is described as "directory from which templates will be used", and not
"specify the directory from which...".