The use of language

Language has two basic uses - to express things precisely and to express things beautifully. The two are not the same. Vagueness is one of the frequent methods of speaking or writing beautifully. Usually, however, language's usefulness is directly proportional to its ability to express exactly what the speaker intends. To that end, the academic end of language is very useful, for it enforces conventions that allow us more precision than slang and colloquilisms generally provide.