rbridges
En-Route
Let me play devil's (dick's?) advocate for a moment.
Flight instructors are primed to look for errors. From small to large, it takes up a lot of their time and attention, and is a large part of what they're being paid to do.
So its almost a reflex to point out errors.
But they do need to be couched so as to not always appear negative and nitpicky.
For instance, "Very nice landing! MUCH better!!! Still, you had a little more back stick to go and you let the plane drift left just a tad right at the end. But really good job - let's try another!"
Similarly, this correction of "left final" might have been almost automatic. I don't think I would have jumped on the air to say anything, but later in conversation I might have mentioned it if I came into contact with the pilot - solely for his edification.
"By the way, good job out there in the pattern today! But technically, final isn't left or right, so that sounds a bit funny."
But bear in mind, I might just be a dick!
I agree with you, but like the OP said, short final isn't the time or place to give someone a lecture on semantics. Kinda like someone saying that your lawn needs to be cut when your house is on fire.