Editing Pick-List values

Editing Pick-List values

In working with our Contacts module, I removed several values from a pick-list because the system said it was moving them to the "Unused Values" section.  However, I can't find any unused values area - only the Unused Fields area.  And the online help seems to indicate that if you remove a value from a pick-list, it's actually deleted.  What's the reality here?  If I remove values from a pick-list, are they really gone forever, or are they truly moved to some storage area that I just can't seem to locate?