diff --git a/Objects/listobject.c b/Objects/listobject.c
index f70d19b..661a53b 100644
--- a/Objects/listobject.c
+++ b/Objects/listobject.c
@@ -388,7 +388,9 @@
 	int i;
 	PyListObject *np;
 	if (!PyList_Check(bb)) {
-		PyErr_BadArgument();
+		PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
+			     "can only append list (not \"%.200s\") to list",
+			     bb->ob_type->tp_name);
 		return NULL;
 	}
 #define b ((PyListObject *)bb)
@@ -469,7 +471,9 @@
 		}
 	}
 	else {
-		PyErr_BadArgument();
+		PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
+			     "must assign list (not \"%.200s\") to slice",
+			     v->ob_type->tp_name);
 		return -1;
 	}
 	if (ilow < 0)
diff --git a/Objects/stringobject.c b/Objects/stringobject.c
index f17fbf1..ce6548b 100644
--- a/Objects/stringobject.c
+++ b/Objects/stringobject.c
@@ -293,7 +293,9 @@
 	if (!PyString_Check(bb)) {
 		if (PyUnicode_Check(bb))
 		    return PyUnicode_Concat((PyObject *)a, bb);
-		PyErr_BadArgument();
+		PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError, 
+			     "cannot add type \"%.200s\" to string",
+			     bb->ob_type->tp_name);
 		return NULL;
 	}
 #define b ((PyStringObject *)bb)
diff --git a/Objects/tupleobject.c b/Objects/tupleobject.c
index d5d6a07..c26b7df 100644
--- a/Objects/tupleobject.c
+++ b/Objects/tupleobject.c
@@ -361,7 +361,9 @@
 	register int i;
 	PyTupleObject *np;
 	if (!PyTuple_Check(bb)) {
-		PyErr_BadArgument();
+		PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
+       		     "can only append tuple (not \"%.200s\") to tuple",
+			     bb->ob_type->tp_name);
 		return NULL;
 	}
 #define b ((PyTupleObject *)bb)