Carioca
From Freepedia
This article is about the inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro; for the Fred Astaire's dance in the movie Flying Down to Rio, see Carioca (dance).
A Carioca is a person born in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The word comes from the indigenous dialect of Tupi-Guarani, and means white men's home ( home=oca, white man=cari ).
It is said that the first Europeans (white men) dwellings in that area were placed along a limpid brook, which soon got the name Carioca (River) as well. Later, its waters would be (wrongfullly) praised as bearing healing properties, in such an exaggerated way that it caused locals to be ironically nicknamed cariocas by other region's people.
