One of my rare triumphs over He Who Must Not Be Named:

***: (ever wonder what the hell the Second World is?)
kimberly: doncha know?
1st world - capitalist bloc
2nd world - communist bloc
3rd world - rest

***: not really
2nd world is a term that i've almost never seen used in the literature

and no one really knows the etymological origin

kimberly: http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=second%20world

Second World also second world
n.
During the Cold War, the Communist nations of the world.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Second-World (sknd-w�rld) adj.

Source: The American Heritage� Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright � 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.