Can You Tender an Explanation?

Jack Applin sends this in. “Chicken tenders are food. Also, “tender” means to offer, as tender a bid. I live in Colorado, but the strip taught me that corruption in South Africa is rampant. Do the foolish Floyd & Julius think that bids for public works are for sale, instead of a fair bidding process?”

3 Comments

  1. Unknown's avatar

    “Tender” can also mean a vessel that tends, such as a ship employed to attend other ships (as to supply provisions), a boat for communication or transportation between shore and a larger ship, or a warship that provides logistic support. It seems likely that one of these meanings is the intended one, but I expect that knowledge of South African political news is needed to confirm this.

  2. Unknown's avatar

    This is the ‘tender a bid’ sense of the word, but not for government contracts, probably something like construction.

  3. Unknown's avatar

    Based only on Googling, it appears likely to mean “obtaining a government contract.” There seems to be a trend called being a “tenderpreneur” where you obtain such contracts, outsource the actual work, and skim a salary. I’m willing to assume they intend to pay a bribe to get two juicy ones. It tracks.

    Purely trivial and not intended as criticism: McDonald’s doesn’t actually sell chicken tenders. They famously have their Chicken McNuggets.

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