But in any case: what is there here to be worth lying about? Avoiding being slightly awkward? I have often answered this question [i.e., “How are you?” —SA.] by actually talking about things that have been going on in my life lately, and that pretty much always goes well.
Is your quibble that this does not literally specify a duration of exactly five minutes? How long do you think it takes to “actually [talk] about things that have been going on in [one’s] life lately”? Is it four minutes? Three minutes? Is five right out? Might it, in fact, sometimes take six minutes, or even seven?
I can’t find anything in the linked comment that says that.
Is your quibble that this does not literally specify a duration of exactly five minutes? How long do you think it takes to “actually [talk] about things that have been going on in [one’s] life lately”? Is it four minutes? Three minutes? Is five right out? Might it, in fact, sometimes take six minutes, or even seven?
To be clear, I usually just talk about one thing, and then that jumps off into some other discussion. Sorry for the confusing wording.