coal face

7.1

The place where work is done and real problems happen

noun

: frente de trabajo

On the other hand, his description of the present state of the coal face re-emphasizes, were it necessary, the 1% inspiration / 99% perspiration split of the creative processes.

Examples

The team is implementing new strategies directly at the coal face of the project.
As a teacher, she enjoys working with students right at the coal face of education.
An interim report from the coal face

Blog text (10)
In the case of the British army, however, this went deeper than banal friction between 'head office' and 'coal face.'

Academic text (2010)
To improve efficiency, the manager decided to spend more time at the coal face with the staff.

Synonyms

coalface

vscoal face

Literature

1 7.2

The place where people do practical work and face real problems

is the same in meaning but written as two words

Surface Forms

coal face singular

coal faces plural

Morphology

coal + face

The phrase originates from mining (the face of a coal seam) and is used metaphorically to mean the frontline or place where work is actually done. While the constituents 'coal' and 'face' give a partial spatial clue (the front surface of coal), the occupational/metaphorical extension to 'the most active part of a job' is not directly predictable for a B1 learner without prior exposure, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

The phrase coal face comes from mining, where workers stood at the coal face, the surface of the coal where they cut it by hand. So today, being at the coal face means 'working directly where the real work happens', often with customers or tasks rather than planning or managing.