I considered Walt for the promotion, but his constant lateness soon made me question that decision.
In that sentence, what does it mean, "soon"? Does it indicate that Walt is late every day, so the boss suddenly hesitate whether to promote Walt? Could you give some synonyms to replace the word 'soon' in the same context?
This question came from our site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts.
You have been connecting the wrong words - "his constant lateness" and "soon" are separate. The pattern here is: "I considered doing X but Y soon made me change my mind".
The word "soon" just amplifies the "made me change my mind". Instead of changing my mind after hours of thinking about it, Y made me change my mind soon, very quickly, almost immediately.
In this case, Walt might have received a promotion, but he is constantly late, and for that reason he doesn't get a promotion. Not only doesn't he get a promotion, his lateness made the decision not to promote him very quick and easy.
"Soon" means "in (or after) a short period of time". I considered Walt for the promotion, but after a short time, his constant lateness made me question that decision. In this case, "a short time" probably means "a small number of work days".
soon (adverb)
in or within a short time; before long; quickly:
