In my opinion, Alan Watts nailed this explanation in a lecture of his.

The analogy was made between the use of words and that of a rabbit snare; neither are needed for what they are frequently directly perceived as, but rather what their existence implies the obtaining of.

For instance, with the use of the rabbit snare, you catch the meat of the rabbit for future nourishment or whatever other purpose. Similarly, we use words to encapsulate a desired state of affairs and establish them as so, and once this state of affairs has been communicated, we are no longer in need of the words, for their purpose has been fulfilled.