okay, so ALT - C copies to clipboard , what pastes from the clipboard? 
I want to copy all the vertices from one object and paste them into another object.
I went through all the hotkeys but I must be blind?!?! Yes, I’m a noob to Blender too . . .
Thanks in advance. 
That only works for text in the Text Editor. You can use Shft-D to duplicate selected verts, or P to Part those verts into a seperate Object (which you can then join to the new obj with Ctrl-J), or Y to split them into a submesh which you can then Duplicate.
For all of the above you’re going to have to position the duplicated submesh and then build faces between it and the obj you’re adding it to after Ctrl-J.
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most excellent Fligh %! 
That’s exactly what I needed, thanks for the great explanation!