[iaskwhy]

I wasn't aware of the original meaning. From Wikipedia[0]: "The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Communist Bloc. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the First World, while the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, and their allies represented the Second World. This terminology provided a way of broadly categorizing the nations of the Earth into three groups based on political and economic divisions."

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World

[MayeulC]

I personally always thought "third world" had more or less the same meaning as "third estate". That is, the "commoners"; or the ones left out of the global elite; and I have yet to find anything that credibly proves that it doesn't come from there. On the upside; that meaning is the one usually associated with it, in my experience.

[phkahler]

Wow, that's really lame. It's like dividing middle school into the "cool kids" the "delinquents" and everyone else. If you're not part of a faction though you're a "third world" loner.

[ptaipale]

Cold war wasn't such a lame thing. As a third-worlder (Finland), I'm quite happy that the US was there to help with the "cool kids".

[phkahler]

I just meant the characterization was lame. How do you like Finland being a 3rd world country given the negative connotations that have since been assigned to the term? You may just say "that doesn't fit" like I did when I learned that Finland is a 3rd world country.