handwaving

[Wilson Gray]

FWIW, I first heard this use of _hand-waving_ used during the course
of lectures on linguistic theory at M.I.T. in 1972. For some reason
that I've not bothered to winkle out of my subconscious, I find this
use of the phrase trivially annoying.

-Wilson


On Sat, Jul 24, 2010 at 12:01 PM, Garson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      handwaving
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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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>



--
-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
–Mark Twain

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