The archaic blame game conclusion to this incident (dumb controller didn't do his job properly) helps no one and prevents nothing in the future. It maybe true in the US that nonstandard is standard regarding R/T, but to suggest phraseology and quality of radio call (amongst other things) played no part in the confusion is blinkered.
I'm not saying the pilots did a poor job of saving the aircraft from disaster. Aviate navigate communicate bla bla bla but if u don't want to end up a molten mess on the runway, it's in your own interest to make damn sure the controllers knows who u are and that ur in the s@#t. Use what ever phraseology you want but make sure it's understood.