I'd agree that it's generational, I'm 28 and I've never seen the term ‘gaming’ used to refer to gambling until I entered this thread. No one in my generation makes that association! On the other hand, I've also never heard of the term used to refer to game development either, in that context I would assume it was used in error.

My guess would be that the term ‘gaming’ in gambling arose from the term ‘games of chance’, and that the two usages arose independently from their connections to the word ‘game’.

HuguesRoss said:
I've also never heard of the term used to refer to game development either, in that context I would assume it was used in error.

I found not just one, but two people using it that way in the past couple of days. And not in error. It appears that the word now has three entirely different meanings, which have to be inferred from context.

taby said:

ignorance is bliss, I suppose.

Yes, I was more blissful before I found this new meaning. I'm sure nobody is that interested, but according to dictionary.com:

noun

1. gambling.
2. the playing of games developed to teach something or to help solve a problem, as in a military or business situation.
3. Digital Technology. the playing of computer or video games.

It doesn't yet include the development of games, but who knows. Someday maybe…

For myself, I'm familiar with the definitions of “gambling” and “playing of video-or-tabletop games”, but am not familiar with the definition of “game development”. I would not be inclined to use it in the last of those, I daresay.

As to changes in definition (including that of “literally”), the nature of human language is, I believe, such that it's normal and common for the meanings of words to drift over time--and also for there to be occasional outliers, I daresay. (At least until should some drastic change occur.)

Will “gaming” come to generally encompass “game-dev”? Maybe; and maybe that additional definition will remain isolated, or die off. Time will tell, I daresay.

Thaumaturge said:
Will “gaming” come to generally encompass “game-dev”? Maybe; and maybe that additional definition will remain isolated, or die off. Time will tell, I daresay.

Well said.