“恐韓癥”一詞源于媒體報(bào)道，指的是自1978年曼谷亞運(yùn)會(huì)以來(lái)這32年的時(shí)間里，中國(guó)國(guó)家足球隊(duì)未能在任何一場(chǎng)正式國(guó)際賽事中擊敗韓國(guó)隊(duì)。在兩隊(duì)總共27場(chǎng)比賽中，中國(guó)隊(duì)16次輸?shù)舯荣悾?/span>11次打成平手。這個(gè)怪圈也成為了中國(guó)足球長(zhǎng)久以來(lái)的一項(xiàng)心理魔咒。維基百科上甚至有專(zhuān)門(mén)的“恐韓癥”詞條。

與“恐韓癥”相對(duì)應(yīng)的“Koreaphobia”一詞也是媒體所創(chuàng)造出來(lái)的。后綴“-phobia”作為一個(gè)獨(dú)立的單詞講是“恐懼癥”的意思。還有很多新聞報(bào)道提到“恐韓癥”并不直譯為“Koreaphobia”，而是采用多種多樣的措辭。

2010年2月10日是所有關(guān)注熱愛(ài)中國(guó)足球的人值得驕傲的一天。當(dāng)晚在日本東京舉行的東亞四強(qiáng)賽上，中國(guó)國(guó)家足球隊(duì)憑借著于海、郜林和鄧卓翔的進(jìn)球，3-0完勝韓國(guó)，讓持續(xù)32年的“恐韓癥”成為歷史。比賽結(jié)束后的第二天，《中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)》以“National team overcomes decades of ROK hoodoo”為標(biāo)題報(bào)道了這場(chǎng)賽事。“hoodoo”的意思是“不祥（的人或物)”，這個(gè)詞常常出現(xiàn)在體育報(bào)道中。例如北京奧運(yùn)會(huì)期間，一篇報(bào)道提到當(dāng)時(shí)國(guó)內(nèi)排名第一卻屢屢惜敗奧運(yùn)賽場(chǎng)的中國(guó)射擊男子手槍選手譚宗亮?xí)r，是這樣措辭的：

Tan Zongliang is a veteran of the Chinese shooting team. He has been China's No. 1 in men's air rifle since Wang Yifu retired. His record in the Olympics is not so good although he has won a lot of international competitions. He took sixth place in the 1996 Olympics, eleventh in 2000, and ninth in 2004. He did not even make the final shoot-out, which can't be put down to a lack of ability. This year, competing at home, Tan Zongliang is expected to cast off his "Olympic hoodoo".

—— Excerpt from August 9: Seven gold medals

無(wú)獨(dú)有偶，新華社的報(bào)道用“jinx”（ 不祥的人或事物；厄運(yùn)）一詞來(lái)表達(dá)國(guó)足32年來(lái)逢韓不勝的怪圈。原文如下：

It was the first victory in 32 years that China gained against South Korea in international matches. The long time jinx was often made into jokes by the Chinese fans to tease the scandal-plagued and ill-performed Chinese football.

—— Excerpt from China clinches 1st win over ROK in 32 years