kwaw
euripides said:sure, fair point... but I still feel the original premise of 'Tarot meaning hole-maker' is just a bit much of a stretch.
Well the title of the thread has become something of a misnomer as we have gone on to discuss various different possibilities [eg as meaning fool, and the others]. Initially I thought 'hole-maker' too as being a bit of a stretch, but as pegging-holes, scoring points and relation perhaps to fool as cypher I wouldn't rule it out completely - perhaps there is a connection too with production techniques such as punching patterns, the term was also used for a tool to engrave in stone. Personally, while I favour some possibilities as being the more plausible I don't feel there is a strong enough evidential base to dismiss most of the various options completely; without further evidence to the contrary they all remain speculative options, even the most [and possibly even least] plausible remain 'on the cards' (as far as I am concerned at any rate).
Kwaw