3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Final Rendering: He likes mathematics very much and in 20 to 30 years will surely become an accomplished mathematician. Acknowledgment: I am going to award my points to PK. Not only did he answer all of the questions, but he provided additional insight to a closely related problem -- namely, the use of the phrase 三五七. What he did not do, but could have done, was talk about the pattern 二四六. Though surely correct in other contexts I find the use of the words "score" (Lu Wang) and "decade" (David Shen) in this context over-stylized and therefore wrong. These are expressions more befitting of a formal historical context, not a person's informal opinion about someone else's future. Though the word "dozen" (Ming Qiang) is surely appropriate in this context, the phrase "a few dozen" overshoots the established range of 20 to 30 by 6. A "couple of dozen" lies somewhere between 20 and 30 and would have been much more appropriate. Frankly, I do not understand why David would make such a complex issue out of what appears to me and others as a fairly straight forward translation. Although I am unable to accept Lu Wang's translation in this context, certainly his discussion was very helpful. Hong Han provided useful insight with regard to the phrase 三五百蚊, but stopped there. In any case, what she did offer was very helpful, and her critique of Tulip's entry most worthy. Both Haiyang and PK make the useful point that "20 to 30" and "20 or 30" are often interchangeable. I agree. By the way, Haiyang, please see the Tsong Kit website for an answer to your question about 想. Last, but not least, thanks to wherestip for helping me to understand by pointing his very knowledgeable, confirmatory, language finger. Discussion: Please see http://homepage.mac.com/moogoonghwa/tsongkit/part3/III-3b-g.html#s19 for further discussion regarding the context of this question. My very best from the land of no mountains surrounded by sea on many sides. "