George,

Nope that is not what it means, because;

lnVar = 123
lcVar = "lnVar"
TYPE(lcVar) = "N" && The data type for lnVar
TYPE("lcVar") = "C" && The data type for lcVar
The string in lcVar is evaluated and the resultant data typoe is returned.

This is logically the same as;

lcVar = "123"
TYPE(lcVar) = "N" && The data type for "123"
TYPE("lcVar") = "C" && The data type for lcVar

Think of it this way and see it clears up, type function says "What is the type of the thing in this expression?" The expression must be a character type and it is evaluated and the type of the thing in the character expression is returned.