Hey...It's not a dumb question! I'm in the business, and we have dealers who do not know the difference. Mostly casinos in Europe, or outside the US offer this other choice.
That would mean that if the table max was $25, you could bet $50 on a split, $100 on a corner, etc. Here in the US, the phrase "Any way to the #" means basically any spot on the inside you can place a chip, that is what the max bet is.
There are several schools of thought on why this is, but my opinion is that if somebody chases a particular # to the table max, a lot of damage can be inflicted to the casino the "European" way rather than the "US" way. This has a lot to do with the fact that roulette is a lot more popular outside the US. A lot of casino's in the UK have more roulette tables than they do blackjack tables.
Does this help?