diff -u b/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.module b/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.module
--- b/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.module
+++ b/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.module
@@ -1768,7 +1768,7 @@
     $typed_terms = drupal_explode_tags($tags);
     foreach ($typed_terms as $typed_term) {
       if (strlen($typed_term) > 255) {
-        form_set_error($element['#name'], t('%term_name is too long. Individual strings in %title must be less than 256 characters.', array(
+        form_set_error($element['#name'], t('%term_name is too long. Individual terms in %title may not exceed 256 characters.', array(
           '%term_name' => $typed_term,
           '%title' => $element['#title'],
           )));