I agree that religion has a lot to answer for in stiffling ethnic culture, but I think TV also plays a part in a more general way...some talking head mispronounces a word, and within a year it turns up as a variant in some dictionary. Kid's games seem to be going the way of the dodo too...it's been a long time since I've seen kids playing jumprope, hopscotch, jacks, marbles, let alone mumbledepeg and string games. Come to think of it, I'm beginning to feel like a dodo myself!