!!!!What's the lingo ya need to know for buying a digital camera?

I don't know what all of that...stuff even means in the description - so what should I be looking for, keeping in mind that my budget is not huge?

Pixels
Lenses etc....

Look for optical zoom not just digital.

The link is to an article by PC World on how to buy a digital camera. We have a Kodak. They make a nice range of cameras and the higher priced ones ($250+) are fairly good for point and shoot type photographers.

You should keep the following rules in mind when choosing a digital camera:
1) greater the number of "effective" pixels the better the camera
2) the higher the range of "optical" zoom the better
3)Digital zoom should be incorporated in camera not software.
4) if the camera has "anti-shake it is better for you
5) try to select from "big" brands (eg nikon,canon,olympus, konika/minolta[now sony] etc) because they generally are better quality and are less likely to have a problem
5) The better the Brand name lens the better the end result (zeiss, leica etc)

It's not that hard. Since you are in the amateur class, most any will do but you should plan ahead because once you want to do more, you won't be able to with a bottom barrel camera.

Look at/for the following.

Minimum 3.2MP (MP = mega-pixels or million pixels)
Minimum 3x zoom (forget all about digital zoom)
Minimum 2" LCD screen (where you view the images)
Secure Digital (SD memory) or Compact Flash (CF memory)
Tripod socket (to connect to a tripod)
Focus Assist Beam/Lamp/LED (really helps with taking pictures in low light)
Uses AA batteries. This helps bigtime when you run out of juice and need to take more pictures.

That will get you started. dprereview.com, steves-digicams.com, and CNET are all good places to read up.