'Recently', 'currently', 'nowadays' — vague temporal markers

Words like 'recently' and 'currently' carry no anchor date. Readers a year later have no way to know what was meant.

What ProfText flags

Vague temporal marker. 'Recently' for you may be years ago for readers.

Phrases this rule catches

• recently
• currently
• nowadays
• today
• at present
• at the moment
• right now

How to fix it

Be specific: 'In Q4 2024' or 'As of December 2024'.

Why this matters

'Recently' could mean last week or last decade depending on the document's lifespan. The convenience of leaving the time horizon implicit is exactly why these words proliferate in drafts — and exactly why they fail every audit. Replace with a specific reference point ('In Q4 2024', 'As of December 2024') wherever the document might outlive the moment.

Languages

• en
• fr
• de
• it

Detection pattern

\b(recently|currently|nowadays|today|at present|at the moment|right now)\b

Related rules

• Relative month without year'Last May', 'next March', 'this October' — relative month references become ambiguous within twelve months of writing.
• Relative time period without anchor'Last week', 'this quarter', 'next fiscal year' — relative periods age out of meaning within months.
• 'Early', 'late', 'mid' month or season'Early spring', 'late October', 'mid-summer' — common shorthand that loses meaning without the year.