"It is in nobody’s interest to confuse, annoy, dismay, alienate or exasperate the audience" -- or use fewer than five verbs! Perhaps the BBC owes its singular style ("BBC World Service, I'm Julian Marshall, with News Hour!") to its lengthy and entertaining Style Guide, available here as a big ol' PDF. It covers everything from "Danglers" to "Jargon," with a particularly pointed section on "Americanisms": "Many American words and expressions have impact and vigour, but use them with discrimination or your audience may become a tad irritated." Too true...

Also, don't miss the "Troublesome Words" glossary -- from "evacuate" to "execute," we're all guilty of a little misuse. But here is the most concise guide to "irony" ever: "Ironically does not mean by an odd coincidence. Irony is using words to say the opposite of what they literally mean, and something is ironic if it is the opposite of what might have been expected. It is a subtle concept and is probably best avoided." Ha!