text: paste special lets you choose what of the cell you want to paste.\n\nfor example, if you have a formula that's calculating averages, and you want to move the answer to a second location, if you do "regular" cut and paste, then the formula will update to the new location, giving you a screwy value.  but with "paste special" you can copy just the value of the cell to the new location.  this also lets you copy just the borders, formatting, comments, formulas, or any number of cool things.  i've personally found it most helpful in dealing with formulas and borders, but there's probably a gazillion other applications.