If you want to get technical, only saying things like “Jesus Christ” as a statement of exasperation are profanities, because they are supposed to disrespect sacred things, but I think these days, we could consider the profane to be the disrespectful. In which case, I would say that the R-word is a profanity, for the same reason the N-word is a profanity.
If we’re trending technical in our etymological taxonomies, then the X-words are all slurs because they insult people for belonging to specific groups. As you say, profanities and blasphemies need to address the sacred in some disrespectful way. I believe that leaves… curse words and expletives as the remaining categories of naughty words. Any others? I suppose vulgarity and obscenity, but those feel like subtypes of expletives to me.
If you want to get technical, only saying things like “Jesus Christ” as a statement of exasperation are profanities, because they are supposed to disrespect sacred things, but I think these days, we could consider the profane to be the disrespectful. In which case, I would say that the R-word is a profanity, for the same reason the N-word is a profanity.
If we’re trending technical in our etymological taxonomies, then the X-words are all slurs because they insult people for belonging to specific groups. As you say, profanities and blasphemies need to address the sacred in some disrespectful way. I believe that leaves… curse words and expletives as the remaining categories of naughty words. Any others? I suppose vulgarity and obscenity, but those feel like subtypes of expletives to me.