Recently, Jay Honeck posted:

We attended a safety seminar on Tuesday during which the FAA presenter
(who was otherwise outstanding) went over a list of unapproved radio
calls. (Number one being, of course, the despised and
now-specifically prohibited "Any other traffic please advise...")

To our surprise, he claimed that the common phraseology "Iowa City
Traffic, N56993 entering left downwind for Runway 25, Iowa City" is
incorrect. In short, he stated that you should say "Iowa City
Traffic, N56993 entering downwind for Runway 25, Iowa City", omitting
the word "left".

In his opinion (and, apparently, the FAA's), saying "left downwind" is
redundant, since everyone should know that the pattern is left (or
right, if appropriate) hand traffic. In high traffic areas, the FAA
thinks that omitting this single word will open the over-crowded
unicom frequencies so that other pilots can squeeze a word in.

Mary and I (and several other pilots) kept quiet during the
presentation, but strongly disagree with him on this topic. IMHO,
saying "left downwind" is clear, concise, and -- most importantly --
clarifies which side of the airport you're on. To assume that
everyone knows whether the pattern is left (or right) is, in my
experience, naive.

What do you guys think?

At one of the uncontrolled airports I use helos regularly fly the pattern
opposite the fixed wing traffic. Also, bizjets do most anything they want.
When I'm in the pattern, I really appreciate knowing which way to look
without having to guess or hunt. There are better things to concentratate
on when preparing to land. Apparently, the FAA's "verbal efficiency
experts" are running out of things to do.

Neil