What happens when a toothless termite walks into a bar?

The joke “A toothless termite walks into a bar and says, ‘Is the bar tender here?'” is a play on words involving a pun on the term “bar tender.” Termites are known for eating wood, and a bar is often made of wood. Normally, a termite would be a threat to a wooden structure. However, in this joke, the termite is humorously characterized as toothless, implying it can’t actually eat wood as termites typically do. The term “bar tender” usually refers to a person who serves drinks at a bar. But in this context, the termite is asking if the wood of the bar is “tender” (soft or easy to eat), playing on the dual meaning of the word “tender.”