[quote="theblackbird"] I fall somewhere on the ace side of things, and I did not know it was called a squish. But I enjoy it – kind of reminds me of jellyfish. [/quote] I do not know who is in charge of making words for ace things, but I'm gonna be honest: they all make me kinda uncomfortable!! Ace/Aro folks already struggle to have partners and deep feelings of love taken seriously..... giving everything cutesy kid words like "squish" and "luff" or silly words for relationships like "zucchini" (I am not joking) just doesn't sit right with me. :( I dunno, I feel better saying, it's still a crush, it's just a bit different to how others experience it because I don't wanna smooch anybody! (Not to mention that "friend crush" is wayyyy more intuitive than "squish," so, there's that as well.) [quote="Savvy"] I once gave a crush a giant bull frog as a gift when I asked him out. My advice? Always be yourself, even if you're weird. It's best not to start a relationship pretending to be someone you're not. [/quote] omg, this reminds me of the guy I was looking for a chance to explain that I didn't do romantic stuff but instead of asking me out on some romantic date, he went and freaking invited me to the museum's annual Bugfest (it was praying mantis themed that year)! I COULDNT SAY NO TO THAT!!!

[quote="Shazzbaa"] I do not know who is in charge of making words for ace things, but I'm gonna be honest: they all make me kinda uncomfortable!! Ace/Aro folks already struggle to have partners and deep feelings of love taken seriously..... giving everything cutesy kid words like "squish" and "luff" or silly words for relationships like "zucchini" (I am not joking) just doesn't sit right with me. :( I dunno, I feel better saying, it's still a crush, it's just a bit different to how others experience it because I don't wanna smooch anybody! (Not to mention that "friend crush" is wayyyy more intuitive than "squish," so, there's that as well.) [/quote] i dont think "squish" is overly-cutsey or even exclusively ace. its not like qpps were you try to make a friendship something else, its just giving a name to smth a lot of people experience. i think its meant to be softer just because friendship itself has softer connotations than romance.

To be fair, though, the word squish is squelchier than crush, and it might make people who are ace more over the physical side of things kinda grossed out.

[quote="Himochi"] I'm sorry that the word makes you uncomfortable Shazz. It wasn't my intention, but I can see why you wouldn't like it. [/quote] Aw nah, you're fine -- it's not a "IM UNCOMFORTABLE WITH U USING THIS" thing, more of a "haha um not everyone prefers this! jsyk!!!" sort of thing! Some people latch onto the word really eagerly and that's cool -- if it's a cool word that describes how you feel, go for it! I'm just not a big fan of it being across-the-board terminology, myself. @u@ IDK MAYBE I AM THE MINORITY IN THIS

Interesting.

I'm also not much of a fan of the squish and squish like words for the same reasons, Shazzbaa. Especially since for a while I thought the fact I didn't relate to them meant I HAD to be romantic and such, and doubting myself towards living more 'normalized' and traditional standards.