and what does it mean to execute a string as if it were code? does that mean it just gets rid of the quotes?
Yep, it does get rid of the quotes.
Lets say you have this global variable...
mycodestring = "player setdamage 1"
If in a script, you put..
call mycodestring
it would be EXACTLY the same as putting this in the script...
player setdamage 1
The call command simple takes a string and "executes" the contents of the string as if you had typed the string in the script.