"Gray Area" n.: A state of mind in which you are not still drunk, not yet hungover, but absolutely not sober. You could be one of the above, but you just...don't...know. You are also generally unsure of all actions occurring in public and become extremely awkward in an situation that requires brainpower at a level above involuntary bodily functions. Complex and nonsensical thoughts cross your mind at every moment, and you are convinced that they are sheer genius that the world must know about. This is the optimal state of being, but will not contribute in any positive manner to human existence... And before you know it, you are driven by the impulse to create a formal definition for these ridiculous thoughts.

A grey area is a term for a border in-between two or more things that is unclearly defined, a border that is hard to define or even impossible to define, or a definition where the distinction border tends to move. There are several flavors of grey areas:

• A grey area of definitions signifies a problem of sorting reality into clearly cut categories. Example: where is the border between erotica and pornography?
• A grey area of law is an area where no clear law or precedent exists, or where the law has not been applied in a long time thus making it unclear if it is applicable at all.
• A grey area of ethics signifies an ethical dilemma, where the border between right and wrong is blurred. Example: is killing always abominable?

Grey areas are widely accepted in democratic societies and have a clear connection to the notion of tolerance, whereas in societies of totalitarianism, grey areas are typically not accepted on any level. A definition delimits or describes the meaning of a concept or term by stating the essential properties of the entities or objects denoted by that concept or term. ... Erotica, from the Greek language Eros (love), are works of art, including literature, photography, film, sculpture and painting, that deal substantively with erotically stimulating or arousing descriptions. ... Pornographic movies Pornography (from Greek πορνογραφία pornographia — literally writing about or drawings of prostitutes) (also informally referred to as porn, pr0n, or porno) is the representation of the human body or human sexual behaviour with the goal of sexual arousal, similar to, but distinct from, erotica, though the two terms are... Law (from the late Old English lagu of probable North Germanic origin) in politics and jurisprudence, is a set of rules or norms of conduct which mandate, proscribe or permit specified relationships among people and organizations, intended to provide methods for ensuring the impartial treatment of such people, and provide... Precedent, sometimes authority, is the legal principle or rule created by a court which guides judges in subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. ... Ethics (from Greek ἦθος meaning custom) is the branch of axiology, one of the four major branches of philosophy, which attempts to understand the nature of morality; to define that which is right from that which is wrong. ... The cross of the war memorial and a menorah for Hanukkah coexist in Oxford. ... Totalitarianism is a typology employed by political scientists, especially those in the field of comparative politics, to describe modern regimes in which the state regulates nearly every aspect of public and private behavior. ...

Many people accept grey areas as a natural part of the human experience, whereas others may react with suspicion and a feeling of defectness or uncompleteness of any thought-system (or paradigm) accepting grey areas. Since the late 1800s, the word paradigm (IPA: ) has referred to a thought pattern in any scientific discipline or other epistemological context. ...

See also: Gray Areas (magazine) Gray Areas is a magazine writing about subcultures involving drugs (narcotics), phreaking, cyberpunk and related issues. ...