Originally Posted by
bfisk
"hold southwest of the XXX vor on the 180 radial, left turns".
Originally Posted by
BITE System
“hold south east on the 180 radial right hand turns”
The "hold [octant direction]" only specifies which way the hold is relative to the fix - i.e., whether the inbound leg is toward or away from the VOR, for holds on an off-VOR fix. It eliminates an ambiguity of only 2 possibilities. (For a hold on the VOR, there is no ambiguity and that part of the clearance is redundant.) So, for the 180 radial the only possibilities are "north" and "south," there is no SE or SW.
The rest is specified by the turn direction.