Conversation so far:
What is the etymology of vlachs?
The word Vlach/Wallachian is etymologically derived from the ethnonym of a Celtic tribe, adopted into Proto-Germanic
Why were the Vlachs considered strangers?
Via both Germanic and Latin, the term started to signify stranger, foreigner.
Was the term Vlachs considered derogatory?
The term was also used derogatively for non-Romance-speaking peoples, in recent times in the western Balkans.

Question: Was it ever not meant in a derogatory way?
Self-contained rewrite: Was the term Vlachs ever not used in a derogatory way?