On Mon, Feb 9, 2015 at 5:48 PM, someone wrote:

So if I'm right calling it a 'key' is a misnomer. I am a very literal
person. if they call it a key it unlocks things, not creates them.
That is where my confusion is from. Am I correct?

Not quite correct...

Both the public and private keys ARE keys... they're just used a
little differently.

You keep your private key secure, and use it to digitally sign a
message when you want others to be able to check that you actually
sent the message (by using your public key). Others can send an
encrypted message that only you can decode, by encrypting the message
using your public key. When you get the message, you can use your
private key to undo the encryption that was done using your public
key.

So, in a way, the public and private keys can be thought of as two
pieces of a single, combined key. The software that does the signing
or encryption (using the keys), such as gnupg, pgp, etc., is more like
the lock that the keys fit.

I hope that helps.
--
Kevin O'Connor