def _format_socket_error(exception):
    """
    Ensures that, regardless of the form that a `socket.error` takes, it is
    formatted into a readable string.
    
    @param str exception: The `socket.error` to be formatted.
    @return str: A nicely formatted summary of the exception.
    """
    try:
        errno, message = exception
        return '[%(errno)i] %(error)s' % {'errno': errno, 'error': message}
    except Exception:
        return str(exception)
