Work Offline - kinda.

What does Work Offline actually mean? Apparently it does not mean offline in any way I would have thought. Well, maybe it will not send and receive NEW email, but it certainly connects online for content in already downloaded email, grabbing images from the Internet. So how is that offline?
Here are two screenshots showing the difference between “working offline” with and without an internet connection.

Work Offline with an Internet connection:
Work Offline without an Internet connection:
Surely that is not right?