What does this gesture with the thumb tucked between the fingers mean?

Going back a few generations, the fig sign was primarily used to express a refusal without being abrupt. A way of saying “you’ll get nothing from me” while avoiding stress.

In many 19th-century French villages, it was used discreetly to reflect a request, appease an insistence, or express disagreement without raising one’s voice. Imagine an overly nosy neighbor or a persistent salesman: a simple gesture from behind the window was enough to say it all. No outburst, no conflict… just a subtle, ironic gesture.