First of all, the pedant is more likely to have prevented things from going from bad to worse in the first place. Second, if the situation is covered by the rulebook (SOPs, legislation, manuals, etc) he's more likely to know the answer. Being a pedant, he will have studied their meaning very closely. Third, if the situation is not covered by the rulebook, then there is nothing to be pedantic about and he is just as likely as any other pilot to come up with the solution.
Lot of assumptions there.Pedantry is a state of mind,no more,no less;you can be pedantic and just plain wrong!
Let me say that an airline skipper should find a modus operandi that suits him/her.No apologies are due to the right seat,he carries the can and he must be allowed to operate in a manner that makes him comfortable.If being a pedantic SOB is his thing well sobeit;the First Officer will have to grin and bear it.In fact it is sometimes good for co-pilots to fly with people like this;after all if you can get on with a guy like this,a normal well-balanced skipper who isnt a control freak will be a walk in the park.
I thoroughly disapprove of non-standard R/T procedure (US pilots please copy) and bring people up on it. On a recent flight I had words with an FO who couldn't or wouldn't get out of the habit of replying to level clearances with "Recleared down to 120 for the ABC123". I told him (a) not to use the word "recleared"; (b) not to use words like "to" and "for" on the R/T, particularly when talking numbers; (c) we are not "THE" ABC123. Why say "It's the ABC123 for start" when you can just as easily say "ABC123 request start"?
Nothing wrong with using recleared if thats indeed what is happening...given a descent/climb to a level but before reaching it,you are given further climb/descent.Its English,it works and is universally understood.
As for the co-pilot prefixing the callsign with "the"..;well,it's superfluous and unnecessary but is unlikely to confuse any controller,so would be harmless to most.
The use of "to" in level clearances...I would agree that this is best avoided,as "to" is a synonym of "two".
Your flippant remark about US R/T is highly arrogant...continental US airspace is the busiest in the world and O'Hare makes Heathrow look like toytown;readbacks are abreviated and delivery is staccato but safety is never compromised;I would never say that European controllers are no good because they operate at 60-70% of the US workrate;they operate in a different environment thats all.
Can you be an agreeable pedant as some here profess to be?I think you can be careful and conscientious and be very agreeable.But an agreeable pedant?NO.IMHO,its an undesirable trait for an airline pilot;Become a tax collector instead.