OK, perhaps this is the oddest subject line in the history of purchasing blogs. But let me explain what I mean.

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Are you familiar with the phrase “You say ‘tomato’ and I say ‘tom-ah-to’?”

For those of you from outside the US, this is a phrase used to essentially mean “Well, we call things by different names, but that’s OK.”

The purchasing profession has many items that are called by different names. Here are a few of these purchasing tomatoes, but not all.

In the US, we say Requests For Proposal. Elsewhere, some people say tenders.

In the US, we say supply management. Elsewhere, some people say supplies management.

In the US, we say procurement of services. Elsewhere, some people say procurement of works.

In the US, we say purchasing department. Elsewhere, some people say purchase department.

Do you have some purchasing tomatoes to share? If so, please comment!