Where "Piss-Up" Comes From
Straightforwardly built from "piss," itself long-standing slang for alcohol or drinking in British and Australian English, plus "up" to indicate a full session of it. Green's Dictionary of Slang records it from 1952 in Britain, reaching Australian print by 1967 in Jim Wynnum's I'm a Jack, All Right — the construction pattern (verb/noun plus "-up" to mean an extended session of that activity) is common and old in English generally.
A "piss-up" specifically implies heavy drinking as the main event, distinguishing it from a more general party like a bash or shindig where drinking might just be incidental.
Source:
"That New Year's party turned into a proper piss-up."
How Aussies Actually Use It
It describes any gathering centred heavily around drinking, often used self-deprecatingly about one's own plans.
It's considered fairly casual and a little coarse, more suited to friends than formal conversation.
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