Give me a minute

[amigo]

Hi Teachers,

I want to know what I should say in the following scenario:

Once,I was doing assignments in the library with some other classmates,I was so concentrated to finish my stuffs,then Classmate A wanted to see my answers,since I was almost done and wanted to finish it before letting him see it. I replied politely,"sure,give me a minute,I'm almost done.I'll let you see it after I finish it" Classmate A said,"Ok,thanks." At that time,Classmate B was laughing and said,"Hahahaha,give me a minute,hahaha","hey,Classmate A,give me a minute,hahaha." I was kind of embarassed and didn't know what was wrong with what I just said that would made him laughed about.

So teachers,pls tell me what's wrong with "give me a minute". As far as I know,it doesn't necessarily mean the exact 1 minute,just like "give me a second" or "give me a sec",doesn't necessarily mean 1 second. Furthermore,I just wanted to express that I'd finish my assignmnet shortly.
Am I wrong?I'm so confused.
Pls correct me,so that I won't make the same mistake again.

[Casiopea]

There's nothing wrong with your reply. It's correct, and you're right about its figurative meaning--that is doesn't really mean 60 seconds; It could mean 5 minutes. As for classmate B, who knows what s/he was laughing at; You need to ask her/him. It's possible s/he was drawing on the literal meaning of 'give me a minute' (i.e., exactly 60 seconds), but, you know I still can't figure out why someone would think that's so funny. :?

[Tdol]

Amigo, I think your classmates must be easily amused; they seem to find a perfectly correct, natural sentence funny. I wish I could be so easily entertained.

[Francois]

That guy was looking for trouble, kick him in the b*lls next time.

FRC

[Natalie27]

That guy was looking for trouble, kick him in the b*lls next time.

FRC

[Tdol]

He sounds like a serious student, not a football fan.

[amigo]

alright ! give me a minute,let me go kick his b*lls,be right back

:mad:


Thank you y'all ! u guys are fantastic

[Casiopea]

You're welcome. :D

[Tdol]

You need a minute? You're a slow kicker.

[amigo]

ok,give me a second,then