What is the criterion for tawriyyah so that it does not become lying?

Question:
Regarding tawriyyah: If a person cannot meet someone and says, "Say he is in the office," while he is actually in the house, is this permissible?

Answer:
This is lying.
Q: Some people use it now: they have a room called the library, and they say, "He went to the library," or something like that. Is this considered lying?
The Shaykh: If he is in the library.
Q: He does not specifically mean it, and instead of saying where he is, they say, "He went to the library."
The Shaykh: If it is contrary to the truth, no. But if he is not in that place.
Q: They say it is tawriyyah?
The Shaykh: In the matter of circumlocution, there is a way out of lying, if one hints at something without intending to lie.
Q: It is reported from some of the Salaf that he had a room he called Damascus or Aleppo, so when he went out, or when he did not want anyone to visit him and they asked about him, he would say, "Say he is in Damascus"?
The Shaykh: I do not know of it. I say: I do not know this.
Q: May Allah reward you. So how does one use tawriyyah?
The Shaykh: The point is: tawriyyah with something that does not involve intending to lie, such as saying, "He is not here," meaning he is not in the assembly, he is in another place, and he intends the assembly. "Not here" means not in the assembly, meaning he is not here in the assembly. It is narrated that Ahmad was asked if al-Marwazi was present, and he said, "He is not here."