[Vocabulary] boundary vs border

[hitinvo]

We use Chinese boundary or Chinese border ?
Please explain (involving meanings)

 

[BobK]

Do/should [STRIKE]W[/STRIKE]we use Chinese boundary or Chinese border ?
Please explain (involving :?: I think you mean 'including' - [/I] meanings)

Border is the boundary between two countries. ('Boundary' is more general than 'border'.)

We say [that is, English speakers say] 'Chinese border' or 'Chinese frontier'. The expression 'Chinese wall' also exists as an idiom - not to be confused with 'the Great Wall of China. Sometimes - often in a financial context - colleagues are not allowed to discuss a particular issue (for professional reasons - avoiding a 'conflict of interests'); there is said to be 'a Chinese wall' between them.

b

 

[bertietheblue]

Border is the boundary between two countries - or between other administrative divisions ('I live near the border between Devon and Cornwall')? With 'boundary' isn't the focus more on the line that divides 2 areas whereas 'border' is a bit vaguer ('They live in the border regions of northern California')? Having said that, we wouldn't say 'boundary' in reference to countries - even the line is the 'border line'. As for 'frontier' , I don't think we say that so often in reference to countries. In most cases, we would say border - so 'the France-Italy border' not 'the France-Italy frontier' - wouldn't we? b

Bertie

 

[BobK]

BK: Border is the boundary between two countries

- or between other administrative divisions ('I live near the border between Devon and Cornwall')?
Yes, of course. There are nearly as many 'meanings' of 'border' as there are contexts. I was answering the question with reference to the line between countries.
With 'boundary' isn't the focus more on the line that divides 2 areas whereas 'border' is a bit vaguer ('They live in the border regions of northern California')?
That's an adjectival usage. I agree with your example, but don't see its relevance in the context of the question.
Having said that, we wouldn't say 'boundary' in reference to countries - even the line is the 'border line'.
Maybe it is where you come from. I, too, would call the boundary between England and Wales or England and Scotland a border, but between say France and Italy there's a frontier.
As for 'frontier' , I don't think we say that so often in reference to countries. In most cases, we would say border - so 'the France-Italy border' not 'the France-Italy frontier' - wouldn't we?

Not I.

b