打腹稿

打腹稿

Literally means:

prepare a draft In the abdomen

Actually means:

work out a draft in one's mind

腹 refers to the abdomen, and here it means the heart. The ancient Chinese believed that the heart was the organ of thoughts, so, in this phrase, abdomen equals to brain.

The phrase means thinking of what to write/say and how to write/say it before writing an article or making a speech.

腹，肚子，在这里借指心。古人认为心是思维的器官，所以在这个短语中，腹等于心、等于脑。

指在写文章、讲话之前，先在心里想一想自己大概要写什么怎么写或说什么怎么说。