Literal translation
He's pouting.
Meaning
he's sulking, pouting
Explanation
This expression describes a precise facial gesture, pushing out and slightly puffing the lips as a sign of displeasure or sulking: bèbo denotes both the pout itself and, by extension, the protruding lower lip that characterises it. Fai la bèbo, literally makes the pout, is used mainly of a child, or of someone whose momentary sulking is described with a certain amused indulgence as childish behaviour. The gesture itself is universal, but the word bèbo gives it a distinctive sound, almost onomatopoeic, its repeated syllables evoking the pout itself, round and pushed forward. The expression belongs to a small set of Provençal phrases describing the immediate physical manifestations of feelings, similar to a la bounta sus la figuro for kindness, but here turned toward a negative, passing feeling. It is said in ordinary, often affectionate register, about a displeased child or an adult sulking in a somewhat childish way.