connotation behind 〜

The words "connotation" and "connotative" are difficult to use. According to my Oxford English-English dictionary, connotation means an idea suggested by a word in addtion to its main meaning. We can use it like "The word 'professional' has connotations of skill and excellence." My English teacher taught us one of the ways to use this word. When I said "His connotation behind telling you 'I hate you, I hate you.' is that he loves you.", he laughed. ^^;That English sentence was right??　^^;