We tend to think in clear-cut divisions: the physical and the immaterial, the objective and the imaginary, etc.

You know from your studies that there is no clear-cut division between quadrants.

The demographic and political applications of the terms have led to a temptation to presume this arbitrary classification is a clear-cut and fundamental cultural division.

There was in fact no clear-cut division between purity associations, suffrage groups and women's organizations - membership often overlapped.

Ritual transi- tions are unmarked by the clear-cut divisions of American/ European time categories.

But whenever people discuss these issues, real feelings come to the surface and there is a clear-cut division of opinion.

There was a clear-cut division between the ground beneath the trees and the end of the moonlit lawn.

These dialects form a dialect continuum without clear-cut divisions.

However, the possibility of clear-cut categorical divisions between ethnicities on present day St Helena, as reflected by these statistics, is disputed.

The traditional view of a clear-cut division between Frisians in the north, Franks in the south and Saxons in the east has proven historically problematic.