Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(Aus./Can./N.Z.) imperfect, mediocre, second-rate.

1911		Maoriland Worker 8 Dec. 13: The voting was of no ‘half-pie’ order, 205 in favour of the proposal, and 22 votes against [DNZE].
c.1926		‘The Mixer’ Transport Workers’ Song Bk 11: I’d tell them what I think o’them... There’s no half-pie about this kid [DNZE].
1938		R. Finlayson Brown Man’s Burden 16: She would rather have a Maori who was a real man than a half-pie Pakeha who talked too much.
1943		J.A.W. Bennett ‘Eng. as it is Spoken in N.Z.’ in AS XVIII:2 Apr. 91: There are a large number of words and phrases in common use which one could scarcely classify as confined to, or originating in, New Zealand, but which deserve to be recorded in any attempt to convey something of the flavor of the colloquial speech of the country. Amongst these are [...] half-pie, mediocre.
1949		H. Wadman Life Sentence 8: New Zealanders who go home on scholarships and come back half-pi [sic] Englishmen [DNZE].
1959		G. Slatter Gun in My Hand 147: Got a half-pie farm out the north road. Doin well.
1967		‘Whisper All Aussie Dict.’ in Kings Cross Whisper (Sydney) xxxv 6/1: half pie: Anything or anyone who is half hearted in his pursuits, e.g. half pie mug, half pie moll, gay.
1974		N. Hilliard Maori Woman 109: ‘Whereabouts do you live?’ ‘In a bed-sitter half-pie flat sort of thing.’ [DNZE].
1974		J. McNeil How Does Your Garden Grow Act I: I wonder who’s looking in her eyes [...] Listening to her half-pied lies.
1981		G. Johnston Fish Factory 157: No half-pie work, you hear?
1986		R.G. Barrett Real Thing 56: There were a couple of half-pie mates of billy Dunnes [...] whom he didn’t particularly go much on.
1988		McGill Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 54/1: half-pie half-hearted or poorly performed; probably Maori ‘pai’, good; eg ‘The whole team had been on the booze the night before and were only playing half-pie.’.
1990		Tupper & Wortley Aus. Prison Sl. Gloss. 🌐 Half-pie. Half-hearted or equivocal. A half-pie attempt is one to which full commitment is not given.
1996		University Bursary Examination Marking Guide (NZ) 🌐 In speech bubble D, identify and comment on TWO characteristic features of New Zealand English in the sentence, ‘That was a half-pie 1 pass ... lucky he got away with it, eh?’ (2 marks).
1996		J. Byrell Lairs, Urgers & Coat-Tuggers 90: ‘If you hear a bloke referred to as a ‘lair’ that means he’s usually someone with a bit of colour who likes to do a bit of skiting if he’s backed a winner at a bit of odds and therefore thinks he’s a half-pie genius.
1997		evevancouver.ca Sept. 🌐 The present strategy, which [...] would create a half-pie inefficient unintegrated non-system compounding frustrations of drivers and citizens alike.