If iCloud backup is off, are the toggled items still being put on iCloud? Could someone help explain the nuances of what is being backed up in a situation where I have deleted my iCloud backups and have turned off Backup, but certain items are still toggled "on" in Settings > iCloud?

Attached is a screenshot to illustrate this situation.  Notice how two items are set to "on".  Does that mean they are still getting backed up, even though the Backup option is "off"?  If not, then what does being toggled "on" mean?
If iCloud Backup is off, then your device is not being backed up to iCloud, regardless of any other settings.

Enabled iCloud services will synchronise that data to other devices with those services on. In the screenshot, the Contacts and Calendars services are enabled, which means that the data which is stored in iCloud for these services will be synchronised to all devices with these services enabled.