View source for Handwave

==English==

===Alternative forms===
* {{l|en|hand-wave}}

===Etymology===
From {{compound|en|hand|wave}}.

===Noun===
{{en-noun}}

# {{lb|en|literally}} The [[wave]] of a [[hand]].
#* {{quote-book|en|year=1871|author=Archibald Forbes|title=My Experiences of the War Between France and Germany|volume=II|year_published=2005|edition=facsimile|publisher=Adamant Media Corporation|pageurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=chFMuhf-oXMC&pg=PA354&dq=%22handwave%22&hl=en&ei=35jrTd6VEoruvQPD5_juDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAzge#v=onepage&q=%22handwave%22&f=false|page=354
|passage=The leader, an upright, broad-shouldered old man, with snow-white hair, half halts his horse with a '''handwave''' of salutation, as he reaches the Imperial Crown Prince, then gallops on with the latter hanging close on his flank.}}
#* {{quote-text|en|year=1991|author=Robert Barnard|title=A Scandal in Belgravia|page=213|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=104ka_EE8foC&pg=PA213&dq=%22handwave%22&hl=en&ei=cpDrTd6EN5LsvQOv3dm5Dw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CDYQ6AEwBDgU#v=onepage&q=%22handwave%22&f=false|passage="{{...}}In fact I tell this mob"— he gave a derogatory '''handwave''' in the direction of the ten or twelve pairs of eyes that were still intent on us—"that I was the original of these Pappa-whatsits."<br>"Papparazzi."}}
# A [[glib]] statement or explanation that glosses over important details.
#* {{quote-text|en|year=2008|author=Hyman P. Minsky|title=Stabilizing an Unstable Economy|page=285|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=CuCHDJ4dxacC&pg=PA285&dq=%22handwave%22&hl=en&ei=vIfrTeXcCIrCvQPB36TSDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEcQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=%22handwave%22&f=false|passage=In this glib '''handwave''' by Friedman, the real results are determined independently of money and financing phenomena; given the way monetarists set up the analysis, the rate of growth of money can only affect the behavior of the price level.}}

===Verb===
{{en-verb}}

# {{lb|en|rhetoric|academia}} To explain something superficially, skipping over important details, perhaps appealing to intuition instead.
#* {{quote-text|en|year=2001|author=Stephanie Frank Singer|title=Symmetry in Mechanics: A Gentle, Modern Introduction|page=33|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=MU0fp7nPRB0C&pg=PA33&dq=%22handwave%22&hl=en&ei=35jrTd6VEoruvQPD5_juDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CEMQ6AEwBTge#v=onepage&q=%22handwave%22&f=false|passage=Some readers may wish to '''handwave''' this restriction away, thinking of <math>\tfrac{\partial}{\partial\rho}</math> as a differentiable vector field on <small><math>\mathbb{R}^2</math></small> that behaves badly at the origin; this approach will suffice for the purposes of this book.}}

====Translations====
{{trans-top|explain something superficially}}
* Russian: {{qualifier|somewhat}} {{t+|ru|отмахнуться|tr=}}
{{trans-bottom}}

===Related terms===
{{col3|en|
|handwavy
|handwaving
|hand waving
|handwavium
|wave of the hand
}}

===See also===
{{col3|en|
|fudge#Verb<pos:verb>
|the rest is history
}}

===References===
* {{R:Cambridge}}