the words 'linda' and 'lindo', meaning beautiful for a woman and man respectively, are bandied around with abundant generosity, at the beginning of texts, in the middle of conversation, and sometimes just as an isolated complimentary jewel to a passerby - men and women are referred to as 'gato' or 'gatinha', meaning cat, alluding to all of the most attractive feline qualities, their elegance, feistiness, and beauty.

cariocas naturally love talking with an 'inho' at the end of almost every word, which literally makes the noun little, but in reality it is a charming way to say the word - for instance, 'beijo', meaning kiss, is transformed into 'beijinho' and 'fofo', meaning sweet, becomes 'fofinho' - similarly, nicknames for friends will include 'baixinho', meaning little shorty, and commonly 'gordinho', little fatty.