1. to commute, to shuttle [verb] [pendelde, gependeld]

Although the dictionary mentions “to commute”, this verb is more commonly used when talking about a shuttle service. It can also be used to say that you are travelling up and down between places.

Examples:
– “Marc pendelt vandaag tussen diverse bedrijfslocaties.”
(“Today, Marc travels up and down between several company locations.”)

– “Reis met de trein naar Lelystad. Er pendelen bussen tussen station Lelystad en het Lowlands festival.”
(“Travel to Lelystad by train. There is a shuttle service between Lelystad and the Lowlands festival.” Literally: “Busses shuttle between…”)

Related words:
– “Op en neer rijden”: to drive up and down.
– “Heen en weer reizen”: literally “to travel forth and back” this is the common Dutch translation for “to commute”.

Example:
“Frank reist elke dag heen en weer tussen zijn woon – en werkplaats.”
(“Frank commutes daily between home and work.” Literally: “… between his place of residence and place of work.” The ‘-‘ after ‘woon’ replaces the noun ‘plaats’. In Dutch it is common to do this in such combinations.)

– “Pendelbus/busje”: shuttle bus/van.
– “Pendeldienst”: shuttle service.

2. to answer questions by interpreting the rotation of a threaded object to dowse, to divine [verb] [pendelde, gependeld]

Ok, so this has nothing to do with computer science nor physics. We couldn’t find the proper name for the act of attaching an object of some weight to a thread that you hold between your fingers, and then asking a question and looking at the direction of rotation of the object 🙂

Update: the correct verb is “to dowse” (thanks Ramie), or “to divine” (thanks Jim).

The thread with the object attached to it for the described purpose is called a “pendel”.

Update: “pendel” is Dutch for “pendulum” in this context.

Example:
– “Sommige mensen beantwoorden vragen door middel van pendelen.”
(“Some people answer questions by means of dowsing/divining (with a pendulum).” You will often encounter the abbreviation ‘d.m.v.’ for ‘door middel van’.)