Where "Scull" Comes From
Green's Dictionary of Slang (which spells it "skull") traces the drinking sense back to 1975, in an Australian source called Bluey: Bush Contractors. It's worth noting this is a different, informal spelling from "scull" the rowing term (as in sculling a boat) — the drinking sense is generally treated as a separate, unrelated bit of slang rather than a metaphorical extension of it.
It sits in the same pub-dare family as shoey and two-pot screamer — Australian drinking culture has no shortage of specific vocabulary for exactly how fast, or how badly, someone can handle their beer.
Source:
"Scull! Scull! Scull!"
How Aussies Actually Use It
Both an instruction and a chant — friends egging someone on with a repeated "Scull! Scull! Scull!" is a familiar scene at parties, twenty-firsts, and pub nights across the country.
It's used as a verb for the act itself ("scull that beer") just as often as it's shouted as encouragement from the sidelines.
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