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: 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-60s.  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 only works for
   arithmetic sequences of values).  MAD is long extinct, but similar
   for-constructs still flourish (e.g., in UNIX's shell languages).