 Americas-born person of West African slave descent), ' and ' can in very informal situations be used with the same sense of endearment as ' and ' in Spanish-speaking South America, but its usage changes in the nearby state of São Paulo, where ' is considered an archaism and ' is the most-used equivalent of "negro"; thus any use of "" carries the risk of being deemed offensive.In Venezuela, particularly in cities like Maracaibo "negro" has a positive connotation and it is independent if the person saying it or receiving it is of black color or not.It is typically used to replace phrases like "amor" (Love), "mamá" (Mother), "amigo" (Friend) and other similar ones.