"cortar" significa truncar (descartar o restante da linha) não dobrar (colocar o restante no início da próxima linha).
O comportamento documentado da opção -S para menos é fazer o oposto do que você descreve.
-S or --chop-long-lines Causes lines longer than the screen width to be chopped rather than folded. That is, the remainder of a long line is simply discarded. The default is to fold long lines; that is, display the remainder on the next line.
(Penso em -S
como significando " S S ideways para S ee fim de linha")
Tente omitir a opção -S.
$ wc longlines.txt 9 128 726 longlines.txt $ less longlines.txt WHAN that Aprille with his shoures soote The droghte of Marche hath perced to th e roote, And bathed every veyne in swich licour, Of which vertu engendred is the flour; Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth Inspired hath in every holt and heeth The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his halfe cours y-ronne, And smale fowles maken melodye, That slepen al the night with open ye, So priketh hem nature in hir corages: Than longen folk to goon on pilgrimages, And palmers for to seken straunge strondes, To ferne halwes, couthe in sondry lo ndes; And specially, from every shires ende Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende, The holy blisful martir for to seke, That hem hath holpen, whan that they were se ke. longlines.txt (END) $ less -S longlines.txt WHAN that Aprille with his shoures soote The droghte of Marche hath perced to th And bathed every veyne in swich licour, Of which vertu engendred is the flour; Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth Inspired hath in every holt and heeth The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his halfe cours y-ronne, And smale fowles maken melodye, That slepen al the night with open ye, So priketh hem nature in hir corages: Than longen folk to goon on pilgrimages, And palmers for to seken straunge strondes, To ferne halwes, couthe in sondry lo And specially, from every shires ende Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende, The holy blisful martir for to seke, That hem hath holpen, whan that they were s longlines.txt (END)