if you are a mouse catcher, I'm Lana Turner

[Nousher Ahmed]

-Thomas, if you are a mouse catcher, I'm Lana Turner, which I'm not.

This sentence has been taken from 'tom and jerry'. This sentence is very strange for me. First, the speaker has said that she is Lana Turner, but later she is saying- she is not Lana Turner.

Please, clarify this fact.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Loob]

Here's the logic, Nousher Ahmed:

If you are a mouse catcher, I'm Lana Turner.
But I'm not Lana Turner - so you are not a mouse catcher!​

Does that help?

 

[VicNicSor]

Remarks like that are quite common in Russian too, without the obvious part "which I'm not". I wonder if that's the case In English.
By this phrase, the speaker (Thomas's mistress?) meant that Thomas is very bad at catching the mouse.

 

[Barque]

.............without the obvious part "which I'm not". I wonder if that's the case In English.........

It is. She could just as well have said "If you're a mouse catcher, I'm Lana Turner".

Nousher, just in case you haven't heard of her, Lana Turner was a famous American actress of about 70 years ago. That's why it's obvious the speaker's not Lana Turner.

 

[VicNicSor]

Thank you.

 

[Rover_KE]

As I pointed out in UsingEnglish.com, 'Tom and Jerry' should be capitalised.

 

[Parla]

Remarks like that are quite common in Russian too, without the obvious part "which I'm not".

"Which I'm not" is usually not included here, either; I'm surprised that it was part of the line you quoted. Any well-known name can be used, and it's always obvious that it's not the identity of the speaker. "If you're a nuclear scientist, I'm Lady Gaga."

 

[VicNicSor]

"If you're a nuclear scientist, I'm Lady Gaga."

..., which we are not

 

[sound shift]

I think the "which I'm not" is there for humorous effect. It's (intended to be) funny precisely because we wouldn't normally include it and because "I'm Lana Turner, which I'm not" doesn't make sense, as Nousher Ahmed implies.