For example, almost every dog I've met in my life (more than 20 subjects) uses their right paw touching one while asking for attention. Can it be used as a criterion for calling them dextral? If not, what?  However, I realize that even those dogs who live in the street might get influenced by dextral people:     There is no domestic animal which has so radically altered its whole   way of living, indeed its whole sphere of interests, that has become   domestic in so true a sense as the dog (Konrad Lorenz)   Is there any research about it?
123808
I have been observing my cat and found that when confronted with an unknown item, she will always use her front left paw to touch it.  This has me wondering if animals exhibit handedness like humans do? (and do I have a left handed cat?)  One note of importance is that with an unknown item, her approach is always identical, so possibly using the left paw means allowing a fast possible exit based on how she positions her body.  This question is related to . However, I question the "paw-ness" as a consequence of how the cat is approaching new items (to be ready to flee), whereas the other question remarks about the high number of "right-pawed" dogs and questions the influence of people for this preference.
101949
As we all know that Kurama's chakra is of the healing nature type. This is known from many mentions about it in the wiki page of .  My question is, what is the nature type of the chakra of the other Tailed beasts?  Note: This is my thinking why there should have been a nature type to each of the tailed beasts.   As we all know that when Rikudō Sennin was about to die, he split his powers among his two sons (the older son inherited his powerful chakra and spiritual energy, and the younger son inherited his powerful life force and physical energy). Similarly, when creating the nine tailed beasts from the Shinju, he must have split the chakra based on their nature so that each tailed beast had a unique natured chakra.  Any insight on this would be very much welcomed.
76810
Over dinner tonight, one of the guests was describing herself as her boss's favorite employee, and asked for a term to describe this.  As the only guest who spoke English as a first language, the question fell on me, but I could not think of any such term.  Is there one?  It would be similar to "teacher's pet" to describe a teacher's favorite student, but in the professional realm.  "Boss's pet" just doesn't seem to fit.
32549
Ok, this is a bit of a tangent question, but it came up yesterday and I didn't know the answer:  How are arms and legs defined physiologically? For example, we say humans have two arms and two legs, while cats have four legs, and some monkeys (appear) to have four arms (although I guess they could be legs too). It's really unclear to me how we make these distinctions.   So:  What is the physiological definition of both "arm" and "leg"? How are they different?
6291
The  is the stuff of legend () and is . My question is two-fold, really: Is the Golden Ratio really a good tool used in modern design (defined here as 20th century on forward), and if so, how often is it used outside of the aforementioned known uses?  EDIT: To @e100's first comment, examples of modern use of the Golden Ratio would be a great thing to add here if there any documented or arguably conclusive uses of it.
67386
Has there been any definitive research about handedness being genetic? Also, why is right-handedness clearly dominant in humans? I'm interested in evolutionary theories, as well as any molecular explanation (if known).
122823
For spells such as , there is a ranged touch attack to target the spell. Other spells activate after a touch attack, such as .  If a victim was otherwise unaware that the spell was being cast, or not in any way resisting, could you target them by (say) just shaking their hand?  This may be applicable to other versions of AD&amp;D, but Pathfinder and 3.5 are the ones I know have this.
74830
To my recollection, all physical Patronus charms that we see in the Harry Potter story are in the form of an animal. However, to quote  the nature of a Patronus charm is that it represents that which is hidden, unknown but necessary within the personality, which depending on the traits revealed could be embodied in many different ways.  For example, if a muggle-born wizard's Patronus were to portray strong leadership and perseverance could the physical manifestation appear as Optimus Prime?
62671
I'm wanting to mix archetypes (traditions) for my monk. I'm wanting specifically the 3rd and 17th level feats from Way of the Open Fist and the 6th and 11th level feats from the Way of the Shadows. I know we can't multiclass into the same class to gain both but in the PHB page 79 2nd column "Monastic Traditions" reads "Three traditions of monastic pursuit are in common in the monasteries scattered across the multiverse." I'm fine with that but where I question is "Most monasteries practice one tradition exclusively, but a few honor the three traditions and instruct each monk according to his or her aptitude and interest."   So my question would be can I build a monk that is split like that without homebrewing to much?
79158
I'd like to know the etymology of the word "ginger" in reference to red-headed people.  In particular, if "ginger" in this context is related to the plant root used in cooking, I'd like to know how the color red became associated with it. I am only familiar with ginger roots that do not possess any red coloring.  A quick google search yields vague and somewhat conflicting results. An authoritative answer with references would be appreciated.  Edit: Although an answer has pointed out a distinction between the term "ginger" and "red-head" in terms of physical features, there is certainly a tendency to see the term applied to people with hair that is any shade of red. I would be interested to trace the usage history of how the word ginger has been applied in that more broad sense.
85667
Movements and philosophies often have a specific term that is used to describe followers of it.  For example, Islam and Muslims, the Society of Jesus and Jesuits, Communism and Communists, even the Grateful Dead and Deadheads.  The analogous relationship between person and place is called .  Is there such a term for the relationship that I've described?
90123
The  and  spells mention:     If you can communicate with the creature, you can direct it not to   attack, to attack particular enemies, or to perform other actions.   In that situation, what exactly is "communicate"? Do you need to speak the same language? If the summons is intelligent enough, can you use gestures (e.g. pointing toward a specific enemy you want it to attack) or similar nonverbal communication? Can you use someone else as a translator?  An answer from RAW would be appreciated, or at least something as RAW as possible.
115484
The various modern revolutions in physics, in psychology, in politics, even in literary style, have not escaped his intelligent notice, but they can scarcely be said to have influenced him deeply.    Could you please explain the following?  They can scarcely be said to have influenced him deeply.  Or, I can not understand such a structure like the following:  In contrast, prices set by a central planner are necessarily arbitrary, since there is no standard against which they can be said to be correct or incorrect. d'oh!
93456
I've grown up on a farm, and my dad and his dad, apparently, always used "cattle" to refer to both the singular and plural forms of the domestic bovine. I've always assumed it's how the word "deer" is.  However, I've heard people say that this is incorrect and the singular is just "cow", but this has always offended us as a cow is a mother cattle, and is incorrect if you're referring to a steer, a bull, or a heifer.  So, is cattle singular as well as plural? If not, is there some general, non-gender-specific word that should be used instead?
43486
Say that I want to become an Animagus, and am really hoping to be a certain animal (say, a stag). I study a whole bunch and manage to perfect the technique. Do I get to pick the animal I wind up as, so that I wind up being a stag like I want? Or is it something where I just find out what I turn into (and if I wind up as a dung beetle, tough luck)?    This is not a duplicate of  because that question is about which animals an Animagus can potentially transform into. Mine is about if I can decide which potential animal I wind up being.
17109
When speaking precisely or technically, one would say that "Homo erectus and homo sapiens are two species of hominid" rather than "Homo erectus and homo sapiens are two species of hominids." The hominid here should be singular because we are speaking about instances of a single class ("class" being used here in its broader sense, not in the sense of taxonomic grouping).  Now let's consider more common parallel constructions replacing the word species with other words.      Tide and Wisk are two brands of detergent.       Tide and Wisk are two brands of detergents.      Cats and dogs are two types of pet you can buy at Pets-R-Us.       Cats and dogs are two types of pets you can buy at Pets-R-Us.   I feel that using the singular noun to specify the class is more grammatically correct, but sounds stilted in conversation. Almost everyone I hear making these constructions uses the plural form. What are your thoughts about singular vs. plural here?  Edit  Here's a more extreme example that may help clarify the issue. Consider the following sentence:     It was my first attempt at calming an angry crowd, and I just        stood there while people were hurling all kinds of insults at me.   Here I think the singular insult sounds strange, if not downright wrong.  Further Edit  I just noticed in A Treasury for Word Lovers (Morton S. Freeman, 1983) a section entitled "Types of Errors." This is a book about (American) English usage by an English professor and editor, which purports to be a "practical guide for serious writers and readers." I wish I could say this discovery satisfies the question, but in fact I now feel somewhat farther from the truth, if there is any single "truth" in this matter. But at least I don't have to worry about being wrong when using the plural form of the class in these constructions.
94414
Example sentence:     I love when your dog just lets you sit there to pet them. You don’t necessarily know if they are enjoying it, but they love you enough to just sit there with you for a bit.   Is this correct? We assume the words "you" and "your" refer to the speaker of the sentence, and not to the listener, as second-person usually does. But it also refers to dog owners in general. I have always been curious about this.