Functions for wrapping text (80 columns default); and a pbpaste/pbcopy shortcut function.

gistfile1.sh

function ncols() { fold -s -w ${1:-80}; }
function pbncols() {
  command -v pbpaste >/dev/null 2>&1 && command -v pbcopy >/dev/null
  if [[ $? != 0 ]]; then
     echo >&2 "pbpaste and pbcopy are required. Aborting."
     return 1
  fi
  pbpaste | ncols $1 | pbcopy
}

Tested with bash 3.2.48 and zsh 4.3.17.

Usage:

$ cat longlines
lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consetetur sadipscing elitr sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna
$ cat longlines | ncols > shortlines
$ cat shortlines
lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consetetur sadipscing elitr sed diam nonumy eirmod 
tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna
$ cat longlines | ncols 50
lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consetetur sadipscing 
elitr sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut 
labore et dolore magna

pbncols, under Mac OS X, will wrap the text in your pasteboard, and put it back there.