diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 1f02559..037d8d9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -335,6 +335,34 @@ $ ./example
 main.NameDotName{Head:"file", Tail:"txt"}
 ```
 
+### Custom placeholders
+
+Use the `placeholder` tag to control which placeholder text is used in the usage text.
+
+```go
+var args struct {
+	Input    string   `arg:"positional" placeholder:"SRC"`
+	Output   []string `arg:"positional" placeholder:"DST"`
+	Optimize int      `arg:"-O" help:"optimization level" placeholder:"LEVEL"`
+	MaxJobs  int      `arg:"-j" help:"maximum number of simultaneous jobs" placeholder:"N"`
+}
+arg.MustParse(&args)
+```
+```shell
+$ ./example -h
+Usage: example [--optimize LEVEL] [--maxjobs N] SRC [DST [DST ...]]
+
+Positional arguments:
+  SRC
+  DST
+
+Options:
+  --optimize LEVEL, -O LEVEL
+                         optimization level
+  --maxjobs N, -j N      maximum number of simultaneous jobs
+  --help, -h             display this help and exit
+```
+
 ### Description strings
 
 ```go
diff --git a/example_test.go b/example_test.go
index f71fbeb..ea123e4 100644
--- a/example_test.go
+++ b/example_test.go
@@ -135,6 +135,38 @@ func Example_helpText() {
 	//   --help, -h             display this help and exit
 }
 
+// This example shows the usage string generated by go-arg with customized placeholders
+func Example_helpPlaceholder() {
+	// These are the args you would pass in on the command line
+	os.Args = split("./example --help")
+
+	var args struct {
+		Input    string   `arg:"positional" placeholder:"SRC"`
+		Output   []string `arg:"positional" placeholder:"DST"`
+		Optimize int      `arg:"-O" help:"optimization level" placeholder:"LEVEL"`
+		MaxJobs  int      `arg:"-j" help:"maximum number of simultaneous jobs" placeholder:"N"`
+	}
+
+	// This is only necessary when running inside golang's runnable example harness
+	osExit = func(int) {}
+
+	MustParse(&args)
+
+	// output:
+
+	// Usage: example [--optimize LEVEL] [--maxjobs N] SRC [DST [DST ...]]
+
+	// Positional arguments:
+	//   SRC
+	//   DST
+
+	// Options:
+	//   --optimize LEVEL, -O LEVEL
+	//                          optimization level
+	//   --maxjobs N, -j N      maximum number of simultaneous jobs
+	//   --help, -h             display this help and exit
+}
+
 // This example shows the usage string generated by go-arg when using subcommands
 func Example_helpTextWithSubcommand() {
 	// These are the args you would pass in on the command line
diff --git a/parse.go b/parse.go
index bc156df..3fcf08a 100644
--- a/parse.go
+++ b/parse.go
@@ -44,18 +44,19 @@ func (p path) Child(child string) path {
 
 // spec represents a command line option
 type spec struct {
-	dest       path
-	typ        reflect.Type
-	long       string
-	short      string
-	multiple   bool
-	required   bool
-	positional bool
-	separate   bool
-	help       string
-	env        string
-	boolean    bool
-	defaultVal string // default value for this option
+	dest        path
+	typ         reflect.Type
+	long        string
+	short       string
+	multiple    bool
+	required    bool
+	positional  bool
+	separate    bool
+	help        string
+	env         string
+	boolean     bool
+	defaultVal  string // default value for this option
+	placeholder string // name of the data in help
 }
 
 // command represents a named subcommand, or the top-level command
@@ -342,6 +343,13 @@ func cmdFromStruct(name string, dest path, t reflect.Type) (*command, error) {
 			}
 		}
 
+		placeholder, hasPlaceholder := field.Tag.Lookup("placeholder")
+		if hasPlaceholder {
+			spec.placeholder = placeholder
+		} else {
+			spec.placeholder = strings.ToUpper(spec.long)
+		}
+
 		// Check whether this field is supported. It's good to do this here rather than
 		// wait until ParseValue because it means that a program with invalid argument
 		// fields will always fail regardless of whether the arguments it received
diff --git a/parse_test.go b/parse_test.go
index 47e9ccd..f75d1a7 100644
--- a/parse_test.go
+++ b/parse_test.go
@@ -220,6 +220,17 @@ func TestLongFlag(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, "xyz", args.Foo)
 }
 
+func TestPlaceholder(t *testing.T) {
+	var args struct {
+		Input    string   `arg:"positional" placeholder:"SRC"`
+		Output   []string `arg:"positional" placeholder:"DST"`
+		Optimize int      `arg:"-O" placeholder:"LEVEL"`
+		MaxJobs  int      `arg:"-j" placeholder:"N"`
+	}
+	err := parse("-O 5 --maxjobs 2 src dest1 dest2", &args)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+}
+
 func TestCaseSensitive(t *testing.T) {
 	var args struct {
 		Lower bool `arg:"-v"`
diff --git a/usage.go b/usage.go
index 43db703..57935fd 100644
--- a/usage.go
+++ b/usage.go
@@ -76,17 +76,16 @@ func (p *Parser) writeUsageForCommand(w io.Writer, cmd *command) {
 	for _, spec := range positionals {
 		// prefix with a space
 		fmt.Fprint(w, " ")
-		up := strings.ToUpper(spec.long)
 		if spec.multiple {
 			if !spec.required {
 				fmt.Fprint(w, "[")
 			}
-			fmt.Fprintf(w, "%s [%s ...]", up, up)
+			fmt.Fprintf(w, "%s [%s ...]", spec.placeholder, spec.placeholder)
 			if !spec.required {
 				fmt.Fprint(w, "]")
 			}
 		} else {
-			fmt.Fprint(w, up)
+			fmt.Fprint(w, spec.placeholder)
 		}
 	}
 	fmt.Fprint(w, "\n")
@@ -134,7 +133,7 @@ func (p *Parser) writeHelpForCommand(w io.Writer, cmd *command) {
 	if len(positionals) > 0 {
 		fmt.Fprint(w, "\nPositional arguments:\n")
 		for _, spec := range positionals {
-			printTwoCols(w, strings.ToUpper(spec.long), spec.help, "")
+			printTwoCols(w, spec.placeholder, spec.help, "")
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -180,7 +179,7 @@ func synopsis(spec *spec, form string) string {
 	if spec.boolean {
 		return form
 	}
-	return form + " " + strings.ToUpper(spec.long)
+	return form + " " + spec.placeholder
 }
 
 func ptrTo(s string) *string {