ワンオペ

Japanese

Etymology

Abbreviation of ワンオペレーション (wan operēshon), itself apparently a shortening of English-derived ワンマン (wanman, “one-man, one-person”) + オペレーション (operēshon, “operation”).

The term arose as in-house jargon at Zensho Holdings in reference to their Sukiya chain of fast-food restaurants, which are often very small operations staffed by a single person.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ワンオペ [wàń'óꜜpè] (Nakadaka – [3])
• IPA^(key): [β̞ã̠ɰ̃o̞pe̞]

Noun

ワンオペ • (wan'ope) 

1. one-person operation of a shop (especially a shop selling food or beverages; often refers to the operation of a shop by just one person at very early or very late hours, where the staff might be more than one person at other times)
2. (by extension) one person taking on the majority of the responsibility