Literal translation
to make the fig
Meaning
to make a rude insulting gesture, the fig
Explanation
Figo means both the fig, the fruit, and by extension the lobe of the nose or even dung, a word whose meanings spread out around a rounded, fleshy shape; faire la figo denotes a specific obscene gesture, sticking the thumb out between the index and middle fingers of a closed hand, usually the right one. This gesture, traditionally aimed by men at other men as an insult or a challenge, is the older equivalent of the gesture now common across Europe under American influence, where only the middle finger is raised. The noun figo visually echoes the shape of the thumb presented between the fingers, the fleshy fruit lending its name to the gesture through a resemblance of form. The expression belongs to the coarse popular register, used mostly among men in contexts of provocation or heavy-handed joking. It shows how Provençal vocabulary lets a single concrete word serve very different realities linked by a resemblance of shape.