part-and-parcel

[Tenor]

Hi everyone, actually this idiom led me to this forum. Then I started to read several posts and enjoyed them a lot. As a Chinese lives in US, I find language ability is really part-and-parcel in my life

I am wondering the origin of this idiom. I failed to guess what it means at the first glance.

[MrPedantic]

Hello Tenor, welcome to UE!

A "parcel" was originally a "portion" or small part of something. Thus "part" and "parcel" mean much the same thing.

The phrase "part and parcel of XYZ" was originally a legal usage; often in legal English a concept is repeated in two forms.

It now means simply "an essential part of something".

Best wishes,

MrP

[VSPrasad]

part and parcel

1. (idiomatic) an integral or Essential piece; that which must be done or accepted as part of something else. Regular maintenance is part and parcel of owning a car.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/part_and_parcel

Function:noun
Date:15th century an essential or integral component <stress was part and parcel of the job>

http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-b...art+and+parcel


an essential or constituent portion; - a reduplicative phrase. Cf. might and main, kith and kin, etc.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/part+and+parcel

part and parcel

if something is part and parcel of an experience, it is a necessary part of that experience which cannot be avoided.

"Being recognised in the street is all part and parcel of being famous."

part and parcel (of something)

something that cannot be separated from a condition or activity.

"Being recognized on the street is part and parcel of being a celebrity."

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/part+and+parcel