What is the meaning of the saying "under my cloak a fig for the king"?

Question

I think I read this in the preface of Don Quixote.

Answer 1

a fig for him! An expression of contempt

very much like "I don't give a darn" add in other words :-)

It is, rather was. a comman hand gesture thumb and fore and middle finger: vulgar. In Spain and all areas that are close: Italy, etc.

Persons who would cut a fig into parts, or

as we say, " who would flay a flint." " He will

dress an egg and give the broth to the poor."

Though the fruit is not a native of this country,

yet when we mean to speak contemptuously

of any one, we say, " a fig for him," and "

under my cloak," the Spaniards say, " a fig

for the king.  (citation below in Source)

The hand-spell is still common in Portugal: it is called the

figa; and thus probably our vulgar phrase, " A fig for him,"

is derived from a Moorish amulet.

The phrase is common in 19th century English literature, almost always said by a woman about a man.