Further communication gripes...

I have a problem with taking the things people say literally. And I should really know better by now. But often when I am looking for a colleague I am told that 'he just went out for a minute'. Now I havent really been thinking that the colleague in question will return within 60 seconds or even that they just left the building, but I had assumed that the person had been in the building at some point that day.
Apparently not so. Iwas told today (twice by different people) that a person that I was looking for had 'just gone out for a minute'. Turns out hes been in another state since Thursday.
"Just gone out' seems to mean 'ah, he's not here'. 'For a minute' probably translates as all Nigerian time measurements - anything from 3 hours to 3 months.
You think after 15 months you cant be surprised anymore... not so, not so at all