The origin of the term is somewhat murky, AFAIK, although its genesis occurred during the culture wars in the field some ten to fifteen years ago or so. It's often attributed to George Irvine, an outspoken and controversial yet monumentally influential cave diver and former director of the WKPP.
The bungee cord design is supposed to collapse the wing when empty. Why this is supposedly advantageous or desirable remains somewhat mysterious.
According to many who use them, arguments against the design are specious. These include the bungee forcing air out of the wing in the event of a puncture, resistance making the wing more challenging to orally inflate, and air bubbles in the wing being more difficult to entirely eliminate due to the pockets formed by the bunched up sections of collapsed wing material.
On the other hand, arguments in favor of the design appear to be equally specious. No particular 'streamlining' occurs, and no specific advantage is evident. It's basically a different design, with its detractors and advocates.
It comes down to a matter of what you believe and why, very little empirical evidence exists to support either arguments for or against.
In terms of the "wing of death", urban legend has it that at least one female diver's body was recovered wearing one. I refer to it as 'urban myth' because I've yet to see any reliable anecdotal account or citation supporting this frequently made assertion. (George has written about performing a body recovery of a female diver, however, her death was attributable to a gas switch to the wrong mix at the wrong depth and a poorly-marked tank, not her wing...)
Hope this helps. If anyone else has a valid citation or reference, I'm sure they'll be along shortly to provide it to you.
Best,
Doc