#additional disclaimer that this blog is run by a USamerican and as such statements here may be biased by that perspective

[queerslurheritageposts]

About aro/ace slurs. Does frigid counts?

I'd say it certainly counts as a derogatory term, but I don't know that it necessarily has slur status as it's not really a term that was/is commonly used to put down that entire group.

What does or doesn't qualify as a slur is a bit tricky to pin down imo, as we've discussed previously how any word can become derogatory depending on inflection and intent. The dividing line between a derogatory term vs a slur, in my opinion, is dependent on a few factors.

Common usage of the term- how widespread is the usage of this word for this group of people? How long is that history?

Intent or prior meaning- how has the word been used historically? Queer, for example, meant weird or strange long before it meant LGBT, and that had a role in it being derogatory. Other terms, such as the r slur used against people with intellectual disabilities, began as medical terms and then through usage by abled people came to have an exceptionally negative meaning.

Notoriety- similar to common usage, this concerns how well the term is known/recognized *as* hate speech. The n word, for example, has been used to subjugate Black people for centuries- many people recognize that it is a slur, or at the very least something considered highly offensive. That's not to say that lesser known terms can't be derogatory or offensive, but it's not quite the same as a slur if it doesn't carry that same weight and history.

Words can also gain or lose slur status- some of the words I used as a examples here didn't originate as slurs. Similarly, the word queer doesn't carry the same weight as other slurs thanks to widespread reclamation. This isn't to say that a word that was once a slur can fully lose that meaning so quickly- moreso that some slurs lose that weight over time, whether from reclamation or from falling out of use (i.e. poof)