I think it's a common misconception that philosophy is an imprecise discipline. I think what makes people think that is the fact that often philosophy deals with topics that have not yet been (or may never be) formalized.
There is philosophy and there is philosophy. What a lot of laypeople have experience with is mostly the type of philosophy that is just meandering with thoughts and overanalyzing the meaning of words to the point of breakage. I think this is the part that makes many people treat the word "philosophy" as synonymous with "nonsense".
I agree that philosophy often deals with topics that have not yet been properly formalized - after all, this is the discipline that's on the frontlines of important problems, asking questions that later get answered with more formal approach.
