<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by remedy:
Skip-pole (the p is pronounced more like ph and the whole word is spoken quickly with the accent on the first syllable).</font>
No, the word consists of two distinct syllables, "schip" and "hol". The former contains the famous Dutch G sound, the latter is pronounced as it is written, with an H. Anybody who speaks proper Dutch wil articulate both syllables clearly. A minority will stress the second syllable.
The origin of the name is unclear, but the oldest known document in which Schiphol is mentioned was written in 1477.
johan