to practise sorcery / witchcraft, to conjure (up)
[verb]
[to-ver-de, ge-to-verd]

“Toveren” is often used in its literal sense: witches and sorcerers do it all the time 🙂 It can also be used when someone does something which seems impossible.

Examples:
– “De tovenaar leerde de toverspreuken uit zijn hoofd.” 
(“The sorcerer learned the magic charms by heart.”)

– “Harry Potter gaat naar de school van tovenarij Zweinstein.” 
(“Harry Potter attends the school for witchcraft Hogwarts.”)

– “Toen ik vroeg of zij een tissue had toverde zij een hele rol keukenpapier te voorschijn uit haar tas.” 
(“When I asked her for a tissue, she conjured up an entire kitchen roll out of her purse.”)

– “Wil je binnen 10 minuten een artikel van twee pagina’s? Onmogelijk! Ik kan niet toveren.” 
(“Do you want a two-page article within 10 minutes? Impossible! I’m no wizard.”)

– “Wie heeft van de toverdrank gedronken? Asterix of Obelix?” 
(“Who drank (of) the magic potion? Asterix or Obelix?”)

– “Hans Klok is een van de bekendste Nederlandse illusionisten/goochelaars.”
(“Hans Klok is one Holland’s most famous illusionists.”)

Related words:
– Goochelen: to conjure, to perform conjuring tricks [verb] [goochelde, gegoocheld].
– Goochelkunst: conjuring trick [noun] [de goochelkunst, de goochelkunsten].
– Goochelaar: illusionist [noun] [de goochelaar, de goochelaars].
– Tovenaar: sorcerer [noun] [de tovernaar, de tovenaars].
– (Tover)heks: witch, sorceress [noun] [de toverheks, de toverheksen].
– Toverspreuk: magic spell, charm [noun] [de toverspreuk, de toverspreuken].
– Toverkol: witch, hag [noun] [de toverkol, de toverkollen].
– Toverdrank: magic potion [noun] [de toverdrank, de toverdranken].

Extra:
Dutch singer Herman van Veen – who slightly resembles a sorcerer himself – had a hit in the eighties with his song “Toveren“.

microwave (oven)
[noun]
[de mag-ne-tron, de mag-ne-trons]

If you think that “magnetron” is the Dutch translation of the name of a character from the X-men or Transformers series, you’re wrong… 🙂

The Netherlands are probably the only country in the world where the microwave oven is called by its main internal component that produces the microwave radiation: the cavity magnetron… Even in Belgium, the Dutch “magnetron” is called “microgolfoven” (i.e. the literal translation of microwave oven).

Sometimes you will see the word “combi-magnetron”, which means that the microwave also has an oven/grill function.

Examples:
– “Verwarm de saus drie minuten in de magnetron op 1000 Watt.” 
(“Heat up the sauce for three minutes in the microwave at 1000 Watt.”)

– “Kunnen we die noedels van de afhaalchinees ook morgen nog in de magnetron stoppen?”
(“Can we put those noodles from the take-away Chinese in the microwave tomorrow?.”)

– “Frank heeft nooit zin om te koken en haalt altijd een magnetronmaaltijd van de supermarkt.”
(“Frank never feels like cooking and always gets a microwave dinner at the supermarket.”)

Related words:
– Opwarmen: to heat up [verb] [warmde op, opgewarmd].
– Vermogen: power [noun] [het vermogen, de vermogens].

Example:
– “Hoe lang moet deze maaltijd in de magnetron?” – “Vijf minuten op vol vermogen.”
(“How long does this dinner have to go in the microwave?” – “Five minutes at full power.)

– Koken: to cook [verb] [kookte, gekookt].

movement, move, motion, exercise
[noun]
[de be-we-ging, de be-we-gin-gen]

"Beweging" and the related verb "bewegen" have everything to do with movement, exercise, and motion. It can be used in both a literal and a figurative sense. Note that the past participle of "bewegen" is "bewogen", and can also be used as an adjective/adverb meaning "moved", "eventful" or "emotive".

Examples:
– "Ik heb een stijve nek, ik heb duidelijk wat meer beweging nodig." 
("I have a stiff neck, I clearly need more exercise".)

– "Hoe heb je je enkel verstuikt?" – "Ik maakte een verkeerde beweging tijdens mijn tenniswedstrijd." 
("How did you sprain your ankle?" – "I made a wrong move during my tennis game.")

– "De vredesbeweging protesteerde op de Dam." 
("The peace movement demonstrated at Dam Square.")

– "Iedere dag minimaal een half uur bewegen is goed voor je gezondheid." 
("Exercising at least half an hour each day is good for your health.")

– "Hij heeft een bewogen leven gehad: hij heeft in twee oorlogen gevochten." 
("He has had an eventful life: he fought in two wars.")

– "Hij was diep bewogen door haar pleidooi voor meer vrijheid." 
("He was deeply moved by her plea for more freedom.")

Expressions:
– "In beweging zetten/krijgen": to start up, to begin to move.

Example:
– "Ze is zo lui als een varken, ze is niet in beweging te krijgen."
("She’s very lazy, I can’t make her do anything." Lit.: "She’s as lazy as a pig, she is hard to move.")

– "Een omtrekkende beweging maken": to try to bypass/circumvent.

Example:
– "Zij maakte een omtrekkende beweging toen hij die confronterende vraag aan haar stelde."
("She tried to circumvent answering when he asked her that confronting question.")

– "Uit eigen beweging": of one’s own accord.

Example:
– "Niemand heeft hem gedwongen, hij deed het uit eigen beweging."
("Nobody forced him, he did it out of his own free will.")

Related words:
– Bewegen: to move [verb] [bewegen, bewoog, bewogen].
– Bewogen: moved, eventful, emotive [adjective/adverb].

to gossip
[verb]
[rod-del-de, ge-rod-deld]

Like most people, the Dutch like to gossip, translated "roddelen". The gossip about the famous Dutch – the "BN’ers" – can be found in the Dutch gossip magazines ("roddelbladen"), see Extra.

Examples:
– "Frank roddelt altijd achter de rug van zijn baas." 
("Frank always gossips behind his chef’s back.")

– "Ik? Een affaire met de buurvrouw? Wie heeft er geroddeld? Dat slaat nergens op!" 
("Me? An affair with my neighbour? Who told you that gossip? That makes no sense at all!")

– "Welke BN’ers staan nu weer in de roddelbladen?" 
("Which famous Dutch are in the gossip magazines now?")

Related words:
– Roddelblad: gossip magazine, tabloid [noun] [het roddelblad, de roddelbladen].

Example:
– "Ik lees altijd de roddelbladen bij de kapper."
("I always read the gossip magazines when I’m at the hairdresser.")

– Weekblad: weekly magazine (that’s how gossip magazines like to call themselves 🙂 ) [noun] [het weekblad, de weekbladen].
– Babbelen: to chat, to chatter [verb] [babbelde, gebabbeld].
– Kletsen: to talk (nonsense), to chatter [ver] [kletste, gekletst].
– Achterklap: gossip [noun] [de achterklap, <no plural>].
– Riooljournalistiek: yellow journalism (lit.: sewer journalism) [noun] [de riooljournalistiek, <no plural>].

Extra:
The Dutch have gossip magazines too. Here’s an (probably incomplete) overview:
– Story (the first Dutch gossip magazine)
– Privé
– Weekend
– Party

Actually, in the Netherlands there are no tabloids comparable to the tabloids in – for example – the UK (Daily Star, The Sun, etc.). The Dutch newspaper "Telegraaf" has somewhat the look and feel of a tabloid, but is still considered to be a quality newspaper. The Telegraaf has a special gossip section though, with selection of the topics and articles in the Privé gossip magazine…