Phrase score and lexical rule thresholds

Each word or phrase in a dictionary is assigned a score that is used to determine the disposition in a lexical rule. Typically a higher score indicates a worse contravention of the rule. For example, a higher score would be assigned to the most obscene words in a list of profane words.

A lexical rule specifies a set of thresholds and actions on each. When a message is compared to the phrases, it accumulates scores for each of the phrases on which it matches. The scores for the phrases within each dictionary are totaled. The greatest threshold that is breached causes an action to be taken on the message.