Pope Francis: Potty mouth

Pope Francis dropped the Italian equivalent of an F-bomb during Sunday's address from the Vatican's Apostolic Palace.

No need to wash out the pontiff's mouth with soap, though. It seems that the swear word was a simple slip of the tongue, NPR reports.

Francis, speaking in Italian (not his first language, Spanish), said the Italian version of the king of bad words. He was attempting to say "caso," which translates into "example" or "case." The pope corrected himself immediately.

A translation of the unfortunate error was posted to The Local: "If each one of us does not amass riches only for oneself, but half for the service of others, in this f*** [pause], in this case the providence of God will become visible through this gesture of solidarity."

Hey, as they say, s--- happens. And the pope shouldn't feel alone. This is hardly the first time a person in a position of power said something uncouth. Vice President Joe Biden was famously heard describing the Affordable Care Act as a "big f---ing deal," and his boss, President Barack Obama, once told TV journalist Matt Lauer that he was trying to figure out "whose a-- to kick" regarding the BP oil spill.

And let us not forget former Vice President Dick Cheney, who told Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., to "go f--- himself" in 2004 after Leahy criticized Cheney over his Halliburton contacts.

UPDATE: Some Yahoo commenters pointed out that the word Pope Francis said could be translated into "prick," as well as the f-word. Slate magazine writes that the word is the "Swiss army knife of Italian curses."

Follow Mike Krumboltz on Twitter (@mikekrumboltz).

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