Literal translation
to play the little lady
Meaning
to put on the airs of a lady
Explanation
To act like a lady of means, said only of women. Damoto is the diminutive of damo, lady, a word once reserved for people of good social standing. The diminutive marks the irony: playing the little lady means imitating ladies without being one. The phrase mocks snobbery, a trait frowned upon in Provençal social habits, all the more so since moussu and damo were borrowed from French, tied since the nineteenth century to the speech of the bourgeoisie who looked down on Provençal.