Thanks for those definitions, SRS. They only serve to reinforce the idea that spatulaness is not an absolute, concrete, definable characteristic, but a continuum, a vortex as it were, of properties and applications. So, like the Tao, we cannot say with certainty what a spatula is. We can only measure an item against our own personal idea of spatulaness and decide for ourselves if a given item is or is not a spatula.

I am reasonably confident that a 1959 Ford station wagon is not a spatula. But, there are doubtlessly components of that 1959 Ford station wagon that could be used as spatulas if they existed in isolation instead of as parts of the car. Therefore, it could be said that a 1959 Ford station wagon exhibits a small degree of spatulaness. Its glove box door exhibits a somewhat higher degree of spatulaness. And that dustpan that was left under the driver's side seat when the thing was hauled to the junkyard is pretty darned much a spatula.

A bowling ball, on the other hand, exhibits absolutely no spatulaness.