Raise your hand if you’ve ever felt totally confused when someone said something like “don’t count your chickens before they hatch” or “that ship has sailed.” Yeah, me too. These weird phrases called “idioms” don’t make any sense if you take them literally. I used to think idioms were just colorful but useless sayings old people enjoyed busting out to mess with my head. Boy, was I wrong.

After stumbling through a bunch of awkward social situations and missing a ton of nuance in conversations, I finally realized that idioms and expressions are like social shorthand. They convey complex ideas and emotions efficiently. Knowing them is key to really understanding language, humor, relationships – pretty much everything. I had to get with the program and learn them myself instead of shaking my fist at extroverted grandparents everywhere.

I still remember the first time the meaning of “the ball is in your court” clicked for me. I was discussing a project proposal with my manager, and I mentioned that I was waiting for feedback from the client before moving forward. “Well, the ball is in your court on that one,” my manager said. Court? Ball? I was confused by the sports reference at first. But then it hit me – the metaphor meant that the next step was my responsibility. I had control, like a player with possession of the ball during a game. It was up to me to take action and follow up with the client. Lightbulb!

Since that epiphany, I’ve realized idioms and expressions teach us cultural knowledge and social intelligence. Understanding them not only avoids embarrassing misunderstandings, but clues us in on shared assumptions and ingrained habits of thought in our language. Plus, knowing your “spill the tea” from your “skeletons in the closet” can make you a great conversationalist.

Here are three reasons mastering these tricky figures of speech is worth your while:

1. Avoid Looking Like You Slept Under a Rock Your Whole Life

Nothing screams “socially awkward penguin” like laughing when someone’s loved one dies because you think “kicking the bucket” is hysterical. Save yourself some face palms and study up on common idioms and expressions before they come up. Keep a running list in your phone so you can add funny new sayings you hear too. Getting familiar with the lexicon will save you many uncomfortable moments of confusion. Plus, pulling one out smoothly in conversation looks and feels awesome.

2. Get Intellectual Jokes and Make Friends Laugh

Beyond avoiding embarrassing gaffes, knowing your idioms lets you catch sly cultural references and smart wordplay. Ever see memes mocking book titles with plays on familiar sayings? Like “Climb Every Mountain Except the One Where the Trolls Live.” Hilarious, right? Well knowing “climb every mountain” as a motivational idiom from The Sound of Music sets you up for the humor there.

Understanding idioms also gives you material for making clever jokes of your own. You can spoof tired expressions to surprise people, like saying “don’t count your hatchlings before they chicken” with some goofy arm flaps. Making people groan and giggle in one punchline? Priceless.

3. Impress Other Humans by Showing Your Mental Dexterity

Finally, having command over common idioms and expressions demonstrates verbal fluency and mental agility. Idioms require unpacking metaphors on the spot to grasp the real meaning. So someone good with these verbal puzzles comes across as sharp. Dropping a fitting (and cool-sounding) idiom into conversation is an easy way to reinforce that. And who doesn’t want to seem like the wittiest, big brain in the room?

Start Building Your Idiom Brain Today

At the end of the day (see what I did there?), taking time to study idioms pays dividends in avoiding cringe, connecting with people, and displaying Impressive Big Brain EnergyTM. I suggest keeping your own list of idioms you encounter in conversational context to start mapping their meanings. Some good ones to get on your radar first include:

• Speak of the devil
• Barking up the wrong tree
• Read between the lines
• Let sleeping dogs lie
• Miss the boat

An easy way to pick them up is watching TV with subtitles on. Pay attention when a character uses a strange phrase and pause to take note of it. Songs, podcasts, and – if you can stand it – talking to relentless idiom users (parents, teachers, etc) are also rich idiom hunting grounds. Consider it an important mental workout. I mean, that’s just my two cents, but owning idioms and expressions makes life a lot more fun. So hopefully you’ll soon be hooked and join me in getting schooled on these key parts of speaking the language. Just remember at the end of the day, it’s always better to know the ropes and avoid feeling out of the loop!