I get what you're saying, but Google still fucked it up. If you tell Google "set a timer for 2 minutes" it counts down 120 seconds. If you tell Google "set an alarm for 2 minutes" it creates a clock alarm at a minute boundary between 1 and 3 minutes ahead, and is unlikely to be what you want.
The point being, if you set an alarm/timer for "N minutes" it should be a countdown. If you set an alarm/timer for "3pm" it should be a clock setting. It shouldn't matter which word you use.
Alexa used to directly sum times. When you ask for a timer for "1 minute 30 seconds", that's exactly the right thing.
If you are deciding or stuttering and ask for a timer for "1 minute 1 minute", it used to give you a timer for 2 minutes (probably not what you wanted). It now gives you a timer for 1 minute.
The point being, if you set an alarm/timer for "N minutes" it should be a countdown. If you set an alarm/timer for "3pm" it should be a clock setting. It shouldn't matter which word you use.