Portuguese-based creole languages used to distinguish locally born black people of African descent from those who had been brought from Africa as slaves. In time, however, this generic sense was lost, and the word "crioulo" or its derivatives (like "Creole" and its equivalents in other languages) became the name of several specific Upper Guinean communities and their languages: the Guinean people and their Kriol language, Cape Verdean people and their Kriolu language, all of which still today have very vigorous use, suppressing the importance of official standard Portuguese. The oldest Portuguese-based creole are the so-called "crioulos" of Upper Guinea, born around the Portuguese
Carnival areas where Dutch, German, French, Spanish, and Portuguese are spoken, or "Carnevale" in Italian-speaking contexts. Alternative names are used for regional and local celebrations. The word is said to come from the Late Latin expression "carne levare", which means "remove meat"; a folk etymology derives it from "carne vale", "farewell to meat". In either case, this signifies the approaching fast. The word "carne" may also be translated as flesh, producing "a farewell to the flesh", a phrase embraced by certain carnival celebrants to embolden the festival's carefree spirit. The etymology of the word "Carnival" thus points to a Christian origin