Dalai Lama's strong accent turns 'forget' into profanity

UNDATED (NBC) -- The Dalai Lama didn't curse at a Brown University event, the school swears — even if closed captioning being shown with a live video stated differently.

The exiled Tibetan leader was urging listeners Wednesday night to share his thoughts with other people if they found them interesting. If not, he said, they could "forget" it.

But a person transcribing the Dalai Lama's remarks for closed captioning misheard the word "forget" for a profanity, a university spokeswoman said.

The closed captioning on a large screen at the Rhode Island Convention Center transcribed the remark as "f*** it."

Some in the audience also believed the Dalai Lama, who has a strong accent, had used a profane phrase. Questions have arisen previously over the same comment in other venues.