Word Count: what exactly is (and isn't) counted?

Hey, is there a definition of what exactly is counted in the dashboard’s “Word Count” feature? For example, does the word count include COMMENTS that are added to the post?

I’m also curious about how the “unpublished” word count is derived. According to my dashboard, I have 245,000 words in 503 unpublished posts. There’s no way I have 503 unpublished posts! It’s more like 65 or 70.

Is it possible the “unpublished” part is counting all drafts of posts, even after they are published? As in, if I save a 100 word post five times before publishing, is that listed as five posts and 500 words? (If so, yo bug!)

Thanks!