handwaving

[Garson O'Toole]

I was unable to find in the OED hand-waving or handwave in the senses
given below in Wikipedia and the Jargon file. Perhaps I am not
searching properly in the OED.

handwaving
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handwaving

handwave
http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/H/handwave.html

A questioner in the comments section of the "Quotes Uncovered:
Freakonomics" blog thought "hand-waving" might be related to a popular
scene in the Star Wars movie concerning a Jedi mind trick:

Obi-Wan: These aren't the droids you're looking for.
Stormtrooper: These aren't the droids we're looking for.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1rlThKe1qo
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/quotes-uncovered-fog-of-war-and-showing-up/

However, the questioner did correctly suspect that the term
hand-waving predates the 1977 film. Here is 1997 cite followed by a
possible 1942 cite:

Cite: 1997 May 16, Times Higher Education, Too much eclectic
hand-waving by Richard Cooper, Review of The Cerebral Code

Behind the central idea, stunningly thought provoking as it is, there
is a great deal of handwaving. Virtually every argument is presented
through a musical analogy, but I was constantly searching for
substance, unsure if I really understood what was being said, and
wondering if it had any real explanatory force.

Cite: 1942 November 24, Miami News, On The Night Side: Be Careful When
Sid White Waves His Hands; Then You Haven’t Got A Chance” by Les
Simmonds, Page 8B, Miami, Florida. (Google News archive)

If Sid books an act that lays an egg, when confronted by the irate
night club owner his manner at once becomes accusing, mildly bellicose
and injured. After a few moments of White’s hand-waving logic the
owner feels that perhaps he himself is guilty for the act’s poor
showing. Not until Sid and his wildly waving hands depart does the
owner catch his breath. Too late.

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