It seems likely jerk is ready to pen article (1,4,3)
I believe the answer is:
i dare say
'it seems likely' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot tell whether it can be defined by this definition.
'jerk is ready to pen article' is the wordplay.
'jerk' is an anagram indicator.
'to pen' is an insertion indicator.
'article' becomes 'a' (the indefinite article in English).
'is'+'ready'='isready'
'isready' is an anagram of 'idaresy'.
'idaresy' enclosing 'a' is 'I DARE SAY'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for i dare say that I've seen before include "One assumes" , "It wouldn't surprise me" , "It's possible" , "It's very likely!" , "Quite possibly" .)