Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(Aus.) useless, no use whatsoever.

1919		C.H. Thorp Handful of Ausseys 110: ‘How’re things?’ ‘Up to — no blanky bon, diggers; this messing round and friggin’ about with the blanky pack-up.
1919		W.H. Downing Digger Dialects 52: upter — A corruption of ‘Up to Putty.’.
1922		Gippsland Times (Vic.) 10 July 4/9: Ah yes, I must confess, / Tha things is upter putty fer — / I’ve lorst th’ Drunk’s Express!
c.1943		S .J. Baker Aus. Vulgarisms [t/s] 12: shit, up to: No good, unsatisfactory. Common equivalents are up to mud, up to putty.
1945		Baker Aus. Lang. 264: upta from up to putty.
1952		West Australian (Perth) 23 Aug. 20/2: World War I gave us [...] ‘upter putty’ (useless).
1959		D. Niland Big Smoke 27: Chiddy Hay, late of Depression Avenue, down in the moosh, uptashit.
1967		J. Wynnum I’m a Jack, All Right 92: ‘What’s Tony up to?’ [...] ‘Just upter’ sighed Harry.
1982		P. Slabolepszy Sat. Night at the Palace (1985) 68: Hey chief – your burglar proofing’s up to shit.
1986		R.G. Barrett Real Thing 39: ‘Any good?’ ‘No, it [i.e. a party] was up to shit’.
1999		G. Seal Lingo 66: Other well-used World War II complaints still in wide use today included [...] up the shit, also used in shortened form of upter.
2001		(con. 1945–6) P. Doyle Devil’s Jump (2008) 120: ‘How well do you think things are going in the country right now?’ [...] ‘I think things are up to shit.’.
2002		R.G. Barrett Mystery Bay Blues 182: ‘So how was Montague Island?’ ‘In a word Woz, up to shit’.