Bons wrote...
Is there a glossary somewhere that explains what the various strokes indicate
in Excel? *For instance I know that for certain formulas I need to use " but
I don't know why...---If I knew what " said to Excel I think I could make
much better use of the program---another instance I noticed a post where
someone said "you have to use double quotes" *Is there a way of understanding
in plain terms what exactly that is telling Excel to do?

Read online help.

Spreadsheet formulas are a form of programming, and using quote marks,
either single or double, is a basic topic in programming. In brief,
spreadsheet formulas use functions and chunks of text. For example, if
the name N is defined as the number 8, the formula

=LEFT("This is a test.",N)

returns the text string ('string' being a common programming term more
precisely defined as a sequence or characters) "This is " not
including the double quote characters. There are three sequences of
characters in this formula. The first, LEFT, doesn't appear in quotes
but is immediately followed by a left parenthesis, which means Excel
will treat it as a function name. The next sequence, including the
double quote characters, is "This is a test." which is a literal text
constant or string, which means Excel will treat it exactly as it
appears. Finally, N isn't quoted and isn't followed immediately by a
left parenthesis, so Excel first checks whether it's a defined name,
and if not, Excel then checks whether it's a range address. In this
case it's a defined name. If you had wanted to use the capital letter
N, you would have needed to have double quoted it, so as "N".

There's really no effective substitute for experience when it comes to
learning the difference between literal text strings, function names,
defined names and range addresses. Rote learning will evolve into
deeper understanding over time if you allow yourself to experiment.