Language and its barriers..........

Language is a very important part of our culture right?

Does that include slang?

For many of us who are bilingual or simply grew up in a bilingual community, getting things misinterpreted when speaking can be frustrating. Even in learning a second language as an adult it can be difficult to get your point across.

With that said, I'd like your opinion on a word one school teacher chose to use and the consequences he had to pay.

The word "cono", (COHN'-yoh) can have many different meanings depending on its context as well as the person using it. It can be offensive, express frustration, shock or even happiness.

Its literal translation refers to the female sexual organs, according to the Royal Spanish Academy in Spain. But the institution charged with regulating the Spanish language says the word also can express "diverse states of emotion, especially surprise or anger."

A public high school teacher is suing the city after he was suspended and fined $15,000 for what school officials say was misconduct for using it in his Manhattan classroom. His attorney claims the word was mistranslated by the court interpreter; his comment was that the interpreter did not understand the way the word was used.

How many of us have used or heard this word used so many times it doesn’t even strike us as being a real curse word? Does that give this teacher the right to have allegedly used this word in a classroom setting? Or is this simply another cross cultural misunderstanding?????