“Second life” (not the trademark) as a term seems to have been circulating for a long time. Ever since the advent of Second Life itself, however, the term has been increasingly prevalent in all the senses that it was used before it was used to refer to Second Life.
Nissan’s “second-life” batteries, for example.
We talk about the “second life” of the economy (or of the global economic crisis).
People are now increasingly said to have a “second life” where they used to say “double life” instead.
Christians have been using the term “second life” for a long time to refer to all manner of reformation.
And these days, just about everyone who talks to a television reporter or journalist about their near-fatal accident, recovery from a debilitating disease, recovery from severe injury, abrupt exoneration for some crime, or any other sort of sudden, life-changing event or positive change in fortunes is thankful for what they call their “second life.”
No doubt spurred by the frequent mention of the virtual environment of the same name, “second life” is everywhere in the media these days (though you see more of it in sports, and religion, it is true). Sometimes it even refers to Second Life .
One I see in newsfeeds often that no doubt has been used since the beginning of time:
“…the accident has taken a second life…”
I named my blog as a minor jest, a play on a song title. Back when I first googled “vida segunda” it tended to turn up religious pages in Spanish. Now, my blog heads the list, followed by a LOT of pointers to places one can buy Ruben Blades’s _Maestra Vida: Segunda Parte_.