BuccaneerRex t1_iqrpmf3 wrote
Reply to comment by Wryot in TIL the BBC released a 'Green Book' in 1949 to define comedy guidelines. Among some of the banned topics were jokes about fig leaves and vulgar use of the word 'basket'. by morecharts
The 'fig leaf' is used in classical art to hide the genitals. Sometimes it's intended by the artist, sometimes they're added in recreations of the art. It's common to see, for example, Michelangelo's David in miniature with a leaf over the twig and berries.
It's actually that rule that probably led to this specific Monty Python sketch:
Thus the term 'fig leaf' as meaning a 'polite fiction to hide what we all know is there', and the use of 'fig leaf' in the same sense that we might use 'bathing suit area'. Although perhaps not in the same scenarios.
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