I have now found the phrase “pi the type” in two different books and have an idea of the meaning from the context. I would hope to learn more about the meaning and how it might have originated.
"pi the type"
May 11th, 2008 by Howard Thornhill
3 Responses to “"pi the type"”
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Teaching English to Preschoolers with iPhones
We (i.e. the creators of Pain in The English) developed a series of iPhone apps to teach preschool kids how to recognize letters and words. (My wife developed the characters and I did the coding.) Our own 4-year old daughter has been enjoying them. They are now available on Apple's App Store. You can search for "bitskis" on your iPhone, or visit the official website at bitskis.com.
If you have kids and own an iPhone, please check it out. It's $2.
As I'm sure you're aware, pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, 3.14159…. It's a transcendental number, i.e. the sequence of digits after the decimal point is non-terminating and non-repeating. When pi is used as a verb, it means to randomize, to jumble, to reduce to chaos, similar to the randomly non-repeating nature of pi's digits.
"Pi the type" is a printer/typesetter's expression meaning to, say, take a form with all the type neatly arranged and ready for printing and then drop it on the floor, spilling the type so that characters are strewn all over, mixed up randomly. I suppose it might also describe simply putting type in a form completely at random, not necessarily spilling it on the floor.
See <http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=pie&searchmode=none>.
<http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pi>
(1) The notion that the phrase "pie (or pi or pye) the type" has anything to do with pi the number is dubious, to say the least.
(2) I doubt that "pi" as a verb was used outside the typesetting fraternity.
(3) Pi the number is irrational and transcendental (in the mathematical sense), but that has nothing to do with randomness.
To add to porche’s comment, here is a definition from thefreedictionary.com:
pi also pie, Printing
n. pl. pis also pies
An amount of type that has been jumbled or thrown together at random.
v. pied (pd) also pied, pi·ing also pie·ing, pies also pies
v.tr.
To jumble or mix up (type).
v.intr.
To become jumbled.
My speculation is that the term does not derive from the mathematical term. I seems more likely to have derived from “pied,” an adjective meaning “of two or more colors in blotches; also wearing or having a parti-colored coat. example: a pied horse” (Merriam-Webster)
Or a pied piper, for that matter. Merriam-Webster dates the word “pied” to the 14th century. The printing press, specifically movable type, came in to use in Europe in the mid 15th century. Perhaps the word was picked up by early printers as a substitute for “jumbled,” another 15th-century word. Maybe they appreciated its economy of letters.