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Ariana Grande Gets Japanese ‘7 Rings’ Tattoo, Turns Out To Mean… Barbecue Grill
By Yoon Sann Wong, 31 Jan 2019

Image via lev radin / Shutterstock.com
Singer Ariana Grande has received a new tattoo in Japanese Kanji to celebrate her recent 7 Rings song that has been found to, unfortunately, translate into “small charcoal grill.”
The ink reads “七輪,” where “七” in Japanese Kanji means “seven,” while “輪” can translate to mean “ring,” “wheel,” “circle,” or “hoop.” When combined, however, “七輪” becomes “shichirin” or “small charcoal grill,” as shown below.
アリアナが七輪のタトゥー入れてる笑 pic.twitter.com/9Jj4Fs2hIE
— at (@aoi80550747) January 30, 2019
On the other hand, one Twitter user has highlighted that if translated from Chinese, “七輪” is correct and does mean seven rings.
The confusion stems from the use of traditional Chinese characters in the Japanese Kanji writing system.
“[J]apanese kanji uses traditional Chinese characters for its writing system and they share many similar though not all the same meanings. [T]hey are pronounced completely differently because the two languages are different,” enlightened Twitter user @tinytimes.
In Grande’s 7 Rings music video however, the Japanese Kanji characters for the song title is correct and features the complete translation as “七つの指輪.”

Video screenshot via Ariana Grande
In a now-deleted tweet, Grande responded to the tattoo blunder with the words, “[I]ndeed, i left out ‘つの指’ which should have gone in between. [I]t hurt like f*** n still looks tight… i wouldn’t have lasted one more symbol lmao. [B]ut this spot also peels a ton and won’t last so if i miss it enough, I’ll suffer thru the whole thing next time.”
Ariana Grande’s new tattoo “七輪” means Japanese style bbq grill, not 7 rings. 😭 If you want to know about 七輪, just google “SHICHIRIN” pic.twitter.com/HuQM2EwI62
— *amo* (@hey__amo) January 30, 2019
okay quick rundown: japanese kanji uses traditional chinese characters for its writing system and they share many similar though not all the same meanings. they are pronounced completely differently because the two languages are different.
— ❄️ (@tinytimes) January 30, 2019
[via Twitter Moments, Capital FM and Kotaku, main image via lev radin / Shutterstock.com]
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