title: Using cut in bash on a file with a unique deliminter
body: <p><strong>Can <code>cut</code> be used in bash with the <code>¬</code> delimiter?</strong> </p>
  
  <p>This question is an extension of the topic covered <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/492090/least-used-delimiter-character-in-normal-text-ascii-128">here</a>. One interpretation of the goal in that link is to use a delimiter that can not be found (or very rarely found) in human text. Say we choose the 'Not Sign' (<code>¬</code>) as a delimiter. My question is regarding the use of <code>cut</code> to pull specific columns of a file with said delimiter. </p>
  
  <p>For example, say that we create a file with the <code>¬</code> delimiter. The file prac.txt might look like:</p>
  
  <pre><code>$cat prac.txt
  "Billy""Car"¬"Red"¬"Garage"¬"3"
  "Rob"¬"Truck"¬"Blue"¬"Street"¬"14" 
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>The following process produces an error:</p>
  
  <pre><code>$cut -d'¬' -f1 prac.txt  
  cut: the delimiter must be a single character
  Try `cut --help' for more information.
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>The correct output would be:</p>
  
  <pre><code>"Billy"
  "Rob"
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Possibly useful info from python:</p>
  
  <pre><code>import unicodedata
  &gt;&gt;&gt;unicodedata.lookup('Not sign')
  u'\xac'
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Possibly useful character conversion <a href="http://rishida.net/tools/conversion/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">link</a>.</p>
  
  <p>My guess is that the <code>-d</code> flag uses some representation of '¬' that I have not tried yet or else it only works with single ascii characters. Thanks in advance for any help.</p>