Silly question about American-English language

How come, very often people would use verbs that describe a 'fast' action to describe a slow process?

One example is of my coworker, who said: I am almost done doing house renovations. I just need to throw some times, blah blah, etc.

Then I ask how long does putting tiles take, he goes: Probably a few weeks.

But to me 'Throw some tiles' means doing it very quickly, under an hour time.

Another example is for someone who is taking the train into the city, when asked about commute: 'Oh, I just 'hop' on the train, and in brings me a few blocks away'...

Or is this just the way English is used in a 'professional/business' environment?

Re: Silly question about American-English language

hop...I would say is used for a shorter commute...

throw...I think she meant that it might be the last thing to do?

Re: Silly question about American-English language

I use it all the time, in and out of the business environment. The english language is laden with slang terms for things. Sometimes the words just denote the action taking place. So someone saying
'I just hopped on a train...' means 'I just got on a train quickly...' or 'I decided last minute to take a train because it seemed to be faster...'. When I say 'I just throw it up' it might mean that a daunting task will be done last, and as quickly and simply as possible...

Re: Silly question about American-English language

I think 'throw on some tiles' denotes that she is not doing a painstaking job or its a relatively easy job rather than length of time to do it.

Like if I say 'Im going to throw some clothes on'..it means Im not caring too much about what I put on.