Not Waving but Drowning Not Waving but Drowning "Not Waving but Drowning" is a poem by the British poet Stevie Smith. It was published in 1957 as part of a collection of the same title. The most famous of Smith's poems, it gives an account of a drowned man whose distressed thrashing in the water had been mistaken for waving. The poem was accompanied by one of Smith's drawings, as was common in her work. The poem's personal significance has been the topic of several pieces of literary criticism because Smith was treated for psychological problems. She contemplated suicide at the age of eight
Hand-waving waving the hands, as in "friendly were the hand-waving crowds ..." (— Sinclair Lewis), which dates to the mid-17th century as a hyphenated verb and the early 19th century United States as a fully compounded verb. It is unclear when the figurative usage arose. The "Oxford Dictionary of English" lists it as "extended use", and it appears primarily in modern American dictionaries, some of which label it "informal". Handwaving is frequently used in low-quality debate, including political campaigning and commentary, issue-based advocacy, advertising and public relations, tabloid journalism, opinion pieces, Internet memes, and informal discussion and writing. If the opponent