# Third World **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [June 2, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-world/306584 "2005-06-02T18:18:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-world/306584/1 "2005-06-02T18:18:23Z")
[Reference](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_271.html) I thought the term “third world” was used to describe the non-European (Old World) and non-American (New World) emergent nations. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-world/306584/2 "2005-06-02T18:57:12Z")
In American usage at least, it means the emergent nations which the U.S. and its western allies and the U.S.S.R. and its communist allies were competing to bring into their spheres during the cold war. So emergent nations is correct, but Europe was always part of the First World. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-world/306584/3 "2005-06-02T20:10:22Z")
At the end of the column, Cecil writes about the idea of splitting the Third World into Third and Fourth Worlds. He says that the idea is not approved of by those who might find their nations in the latter category. He should also have registered his own personal dislike of the idea. After all, if the Third World came from an analogy to the Third Estate, and the Fourth World would consist of those countries that are “dead in the water”, the implication is that the Fourth Estate (of which Cecil is a member) could also be described as permanently underdeveloped. Sure, it’s a somewhat obscure stretch for the sake of feeling insulted, but even a poor insult deserves a saucy retort (as The Master has shown us time and again). ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-world/306584/4 "2005-06-05T22:53:17Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > but Europe was always part of the First World. Except for those parts of it that weren’t of course. Remember signifcant partsof Europe were under communist control. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-world/306584/5 "2005-06-06T04:54:26Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > [Reference](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_271.html) > > I thought the term “third world” was used to describe the non-European (Old World) and non-American (New World) emergent nations. All New World nations are American. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-world/306584/6 "2005-06-06T12:06:18Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > All New World nations are American. You have to parse that thing as: _non-European (European being the Old World) and non-American (America being the New World) emergent nations._ ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-world/306584/7 "2005-06-06T23:52:17Z")
Then again, a lot of folks who live in Central and South America also think of themselves as “Americans”. They do live in the Americas, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-world/306584/8 "2005-06-07T01:09:50Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > All New World nations are American. New Zealand? Australia? ---
**Author:** ![dgocracker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3d9bf3/32.png) [@dgocracker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dgocracker)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-world/306584/9 "2005-06-09T20:05:58Z")
I do believe third world is a little outdated. Since the fall of the Soviet Union there is no second world so how could there be a third? I do believe the PC termanology is the Global North and the Global South, since most of the industrialized countries lie in the northern part of the world. This is obviously perfect, considering Australia, New Zealand and (I think) South Africa are considered Global North countries.