Oh boy, I get to unearth my very first edition of Capricious Piffle.

Well, I believe it dates back to Sumerian times, when artisans kept their carts well oiled with an amalgam of ground up wheat, pig lard, river muck. The name "whack" came about from combining the "wh" of wheat, the "a" of lard and the "ck" of muck, thus the wheels of their carts were kept running with a healthy application of "whack". This was a rather runny concoction, so after a few days they would have to re-apply the "whack". Most well-run businesses would keep a bucket or two of back-up whack with them, but these supplies could soon be used up, and they would be "out of whack".

Today's capricious piffle is brought to you by the letter "N" and the number "5".

this thread can be found at http://wordsmith.org/board/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=words&Number=4512