Funny ‘What is the shape of Italy’ joke has been popular in gaming for decades

‘What is the shape of Italy’ joke goes viral

The prank involves asking someone ‘What is the shape of Italy?’ while you’re speaking to them on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo or other gaming platforms.

On Xbox and PlayStation it’s called a party, which allows you to speak to a group of people online live whilst playing a game on the console.

When you ask the question, they should reply with the answer ‘boot’ as it’s a well known fact that the European country looks like a boot.

Then, that’s where the joke comes in.

‘What is the shape of Italy’ meme explained

After the person says boot, the rest is simple – you boot them out of the party!

They’ll wonder why you got rid of them, and all you have to do is remind them they said “boot” so you kicked them out as they asked.

It’s a really simple joke and it’s existed on the internet for years, but continues to amuse people in 2023, and it’s used as a secret code too.

When friends are in a party with random people and want to kick them out, they sometimes say ‘shape of Italy’ to communicate secretly.

If you need another prank, have a go at the viral ‘Mike who cheese hairy’ joke which tricks someone into accidentally saying a rude phrase.

Alternatives to the joke

If you’ve already tried the Italy joke on your friends or fancy something a bit different, there are some great alternatives.

You could ask ‘What Do You Do With a Soccer Ball?’ or ‘What Does a Cowboy Wear on His Feet?’ which have the answers ‘kick’ and ‘boots’.

Essentially, any question where the answer is about kicking or booting would work, but the Italy joke is the most well known.

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