highlight to copy

You are clicking too hard on your trackpad.

Recent mac trackpads have "Force Touch" capabilities and that may need a little adjustment, especially coming from an older mac, where a click is a click.

Edit menu has Copy and paste for anything that is selected. The Cloverleaf commands next to the word in question are the keyboard commands, using the Command key or Windows logo key on Microsoft keyboards. Alt corresponds to the escalator icon or Option key. The ^ corresponds to the control key.