Barkis is willin'

Barkis is willin'

A phrase emphasizing one's availability or openness to a situation. It refers to Mr. Barkis, a character in Charles Dickens' novel David Copperfield, who used the phrase to express his interest in marriage. A: "Are you ready for the race today?" B: "Oh yeah! Barkis is willin'!"
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • fair's fair
  • who are you, and what have you done with (someone)
  • prunes and prisms
  • below the belt
  • do a Melba
  • young once
  • you're only young once
  • after meat, mustard
  • I tell you
References in classic literature
As he repudiated this suggestion, however, with a jerk of his head, and once more confirmed his previous request by saying, with profound gravity, 'Barkis is willin'. That's the message,' I readily undertook its transmission.
David Copperfield
Micawber, Peggotty, and Barkis (especially his proposal to Peggotty, "Barkis is willin'")--all outstanding and unforgettable.
All-time favorites
21 "Barkis is willin'" is a well-known message about a prospective marriage in which Dickens novel?
POST PUZZLER: 50 for fun; Phil Brown's trivia quiz
His better-known quotes such as "Barkis is willin'" and Uriah Heep's "We are so very 'umble" from David Copperfield stay in the mind but Dickens also wrote some memorable truisms such as the above attack on lawyers in Bleak House.
Books: Don't quote them on this; The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. Fifth Edition by Elizabeth Knowles (Oxford University Press, pounds 25);The Cassell Dictionary of Regrettable Quotations. Edited by David Milstead (Cassell, pounds 10.99). Reviewed by Ross Reyburn