I&#x27;ve used the magic word &quot;xyzzy&quot; whenever I&#x27;ve had to come up with an arbitrary string in the same way, but 1729 is much better.<p>I read a commentary on Ramanujan when I was about 14 in the four volume set &quot;The World of Mathematics&quot;. The quotes by the famous mathematician G.H. Hardy, Ramanujan&#x27;s mentor, are apropos:<p><pre><code>    &quot;I had ridden in taxi-cab No 1729, and remarked that the number
    seemed to me rather a dull one, and that I hoped it was not an
    unfavourable omen. &#x27;No,&#x27; he replied, &#x27;it is a very interesting
    number; it is the smallest number expressible as a sum of two
    cubes in two different ways.&#x27; ... &#x27;His powers of calculation,
    were very unusual, but they could not reasonably be called
    &#x27;abnormal.&#x27; ...

    &quot;It was his insight into algebraical formulae, transformations
    infinite series, and so forth, that were the most amazing. On
    this side most certainly I have never met his equal, and I can
    compare him only with Euler or Jacobi. ...
</code></pre>
I recommend &quot;The World of Mathematics&quot; to any junior mathematician. A 1956 edition of four volumes, like mine, is only about 20 dollars  (used) on Amazon. Appropriate for non-mathematicians, it inspired me to pursue math in high school and college.