diff --git a/src/Plots.jl b/src/Plots.jl
index b5f09597..60a885cc 100644
--- a/src/Plots.jl
+++ b/src/Plots.jl
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ export
 
     plot,
     plot!,
-    update!,
+    attr!,
 
     current,
     default,
diff --git a/src/args.jl b/src/args.jl
index ea07cbae..490eaddc 100644
--- a/src/args.jl
+++ b/src/args.jl
@@ -1094,7 +1094,7 @@ function _update_axis(axis::Axis, d_in::KW, letter::Symbol, subplot_index::Int)
     end
 
     # update the axis
-    update!(axis, args...; kw...)
+    attr!(axis, args...; kw...)
     return
 end
 
diff --git a/src/axes.jl b/src/axes.jl
index 9938591d..b9840e7a 100644
--- a/src/axes.jl
+++ b/src/axes.jl
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ function Axis(sp::Subplot, letter::Symbol, args...; kw...)
     d[:discrete_values] = []
 
     # update the defaults
-    update!(Axis([sp], d), args...; kw...)
+    attr!(Axis([sp], d), args...; kw...)
 end
 
 function get_axis(sp::Subplot, letter::Symbol)
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ function process_axis_arg!(d::KW, arg, letter = "")
 end
 
 # update an Axis object with magic args and keywords
-function update!(axis::Axis, args...; kw...)
+function attr!(axis::Axis, args...; kw...)
     # first process args
     d = axis.d
     for arg in args
diff --git a/src/utils.jl b/src/utils.jl
index 379a89cc..7483d0a8 100644
--- a/src/utils.jl
+++ b/src/utils.jl
@@ -714,28 +714,28 @@ Base.push!(series::Series, xi, yi, zi) = (push_x!(series,xi); push_y!(series,yi)
 
 # -------------------------------------------------------
 
-function update!(series::Series; kw...)
+function attr!(series::Series; kw...)
     d = KW(kw)
     preprocessArgs!(d)
     for (k,v) in d
         if haskey(_series_defaults, k)
             series[k] = v
         else
-            warn("unused key $k in series update")
+            warn("unused key $k in series attr")
         end
     end
     _series_updated(series[:subplot].plt, series)
     series
 end
 
-function update!(sp::Subplot; kw...)
+function attr!(sp::Subplot; kw...)
     d = KW(kw)
     preprocessArgs!(d)
     for (k,v) in d
         if haskey(_subplot_defaults, k)
             sp[k] = v
         else
-            warn("unused key $k in subplot update")
+            warn("unused key $k in subplot attr")
         end
     end
     sp