Vague short durations ('a moment', 'soon', 'shortly')

Short-duration shorthand that means anything from seconds to weeks depending on the reader.

What ProfText flags

Vague short-term duration. 'Soon' means different things to different people.

How to fix it

Be specific: '2-4 business days' or 'by January 15'.

Why this matters

'In a moment', 'shortly', 'soon' are conversational — they work because tone of voice fills in the actual interval. In writing the interval is missing and readers fill it in differently. For commitments (SLAs, response windows, deadlines) specify the actual duration; for descriptions of past events, give the actual elapsed time.

Languages

• en
• fr
• de
• it

Detection pattern

\b(within\s+(a\s+few\s+)?(days|weeks)|in\s+a\s+few\s+(days|weeks)|shortly|soon|imminently)\b

Related rules

• Vague long durations ('for years', 'over the long term')Long-duration shorthand that obscures specifics the reader needs to act on.
• 'From' without a clear endpoint'Available from Monday', 'effective from January' — start dates without explicit duration or end.