No Clarity, No Way

I was asked to drive my girlfriend to an event this morning, and I got lost. I don't usually get lost - being a frequent road traveler - and this bugged me. "What does this have to do with language," you ask. Here's how: the directions I was given were sorely in need of clarity.

The purpose of language - in my mind - is to communicate ideas between individuals. In order to do so as effectively as possible, language has to be clear. Clarity comes not only from an understanding of the language but also from an understanding of the guidelines (notice I did not say rules) of the language.

The directions I was given to the event (and I'm paraphrasing) came down to this:

"Meet Person A near Veteran's Park near the sign for the Lincoln Bridge street sign."

There were a few things wrong with this:

1. Person A didn't have a contact number reachable on the weekend.
2. Veteran's Park runs nearly a mile long from north to south. Stating that something is near the park isn't very specific.
3. The street sign mentioned is not for the street mentioned but another.

Needless to say, it was a pain to have driven right past the location twice before recognizing someone and understanding that it was the place. Clarity is essential when dealing with language because the lack thereof causes a significant amount of confusion, and as a writer, you don't want confusion in your readers. So be as specific as possible without being too wordy. That's where being concise comes in, which is a topic for another day.