The “solution”, if there is one, is to recognize that any individual among us likely did not coin or invent any meaning or word, and to avoid letting our understanding or lack thereof end conversation. Consideration must be given to the history of the word’s usage and meaning, but recognizing that new meanings can arise is important (looks up “run” in a dictionary to see this in action). I often see this reflected in discussions of the word “foley” among my game sound design peers. With the relatively recent borrowing of the word from film and television, it’s acquiring an ever increasingly confusing hodgepodge of meanings in the gaming world. Most of the discussions (and arguing) around it involve not a discussion of the long history of the word “foley”, but instead around personal ideas and relative interpretations. A willingness to listen to others and learn from those who have come before, to grow our own understanding and not impose that on others’ is the best way to foster our common lexicon.

Communication is a multiple-way path. We want to be understood as much as we need to understand. Wondering out loud and engaging in conversations about meanings and understandings, such as Brad’s done above, is the most important thing we can do.

-soundeziner/ Andy