The pilot said "smoke in the cockpit" and then gave his flight number. What part of that did the controller not understand.
Again, quite clearly - most of it due to the usual cowbay phraseology.
As for the comments regarding the increased time required to process said phraseology to do it properly, that's PRECISELY why it should be trained and used correctly in everyday circumstances - so that little or no thought is required.
Of course, then the cowboys wouldn't be able to sound so cool!
What's more important?