throughout brazil, nouns, feelings and expressions in informal settings are regularly either diminished or augmented, using the suffix 'inho' (little), or 'ão' (big), respectively - 'bonito' becomes 'bonitinho', meaning cute, while 'mal' becomes 'malzão', meaning 'really bad', and 'maneiro' meaning cool, becomes 'maneirão', meaning 'really cool'.

there is a rich reserve of national and local expressions, which cariocas tap into over the course of each day - these tend to be deeply embedded in the linguistic fabric of the city, as pre-packaged ways to express particular sentiments.

some of these expressions are ways of referring to difficult topics by skirting around social and economic implications - asphalt, for example, refers to any place in rio that is not atop a hill, meaning it is not a favela.