Karaoke vs. KTV

[NinjaTurtle]

Mainland Chinese people use the term "K.T.V." to mean karaoke. Does British English also use this, or this only a Chinese-English usage?

 

[jutfrank]

No, I'm pretty sure nobody in the UK would use that.

 

[Rover_KE]

No, I'm pretty sure nobody in the UK would use that.

... or anywhere else in the English-speaking world.

 

[Tdol]

I had never heard or seen KTV before I went to SE Asia.

 

[J&K Tutoring]

Oh, it's gangs of fun. You hire a small, dark room with (usually, but not always) an attached restroom and a big TV screen. Everyone gathers together and the volume is turned up until you can hear the speakers hum. Then, one person at a time sings passionately and terribly at the top of their lungs (amplified) while everyone else is tapping on their smartphone and waiting for their turn.

A bored girl serves warm beer and various snacks, some of which don't stink too much. With a little luck, only three or four people are smokers...

 

[emsr2d2]

That is identical to what we call karaoke here. Sometimes it's done in public (in a pub, for example) but we also have such rooms for hire. I do it at least once a year with a group of friends. It's great fun.

 

[NinjaTurtle]

I remember, back in the day, in Tokyo, when karaoke was on eight-track cassettes. (Who here remembers eight-tracks...?) The lyrics were not read off of the screen -- there was no screen -- and they were read out of a printed book! (Karaoke started in Japan and translates as "empty orchestra".)

 

[Tdol]

Last year, I was staying near the Sumida river in Tokyo and every Friday night, you'd have the karaoke boats full of drunks in suits, warbling tunelessly and raucously for the most part. I never got around to boarding one.