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Define the word for values of

for values of [MIT] A common rhetorical maneuver at MIT is to use any
   of the canonical random numbers as placeholders for variables. "The
   max function takes 42 arguments, for arbitrary values of 42." "There are
   69 ways to leave your lover, for 69 = 50." This is especially likely
   when the speaker has uttered a random number and realizes that it was
   not recognized as such, but even `non-random' numbers are occasionally
   used in this fashion. A related joke is that pi equals 3 -- for small
   values of pi and large values of 3.

   Historical note: at MIT this usage has traditionally been traced to
   the programming language MAD (Michigan Algorithm Decoder), an
   Algol-58-like language that was the most common choice among mainstream
   (non-hacker) users at MIT in the mid-60s. It inherited from Algol-58 a
   control structure FOR VALUES OF X = 3, 7, 99 DO ... that would repeat
   the indicated instructions for each value in the list (unlike the usual
   FOR that only works for arithmetic sequences of values). MAD is long
   extinct, but similar for-constructs still flourish (e.g., in Unix's
   shell languages).

for values of
     
         A common rhetorical maneuver at MIT is to use any
        of the canonical random numbers as placeholders for
        variables.  "The max function takes 42 arguments, for
        arbitrary values of 42".  "There are 69 ways to leave your
        lover, for 69 = 50".  This is especially likely when the
        speaker has uttered a random number and realises that it was
        not recognised as such, but even "non-random" numbers are
        occasionally used in this fashion.  A related joke is that pi
        equals 3 - for small values of pi and large values of 3.
     
        This usage probably derives from the programming language MAD
        (Michigan Algorithm Decoder), an ALGOL-like language that
        was the most common choice among mainstream (non-hacker) users
        at MIT in the mid-1960s.  It had a control structure FOR
        VALUES OF X = 3, 7, 99 DO ... that would repeat the indicated
        instructions for each value in the list (unlike the usual FOR
        that generates an arithmetic sequence of values).  MAD is
        long extinct, but similar for-constructs still flourish
        (e.g. in Unix's shell languages).
     
        [Jargon File]
     
        (1994-12-16)