英語で説明をお願いします。犬かきならぬ猫かきの意味

質問

I need some help with a japanese phrase from a movie.
So, a cat is swimming, and then this line is in the subtitle : 犬かきならぬ猫かき。

Does anyone can help me what does ならぬ mean in this case? It would be highly appreciate if
you can explain the meaning of whole sentence of 犬かきならぬ猫かき。

Thank you.

よろしくお願いします。

回答No.2

marbleshit · ベストアンサー

犬かき which means dog paddle is a common and ordinary name of swimming style often seen among children or beginner swimmers, which named after the way dogs swim, but 猫かき swimming doesn't really exist because cats will rarely swim.
In a way, the producer just making a play on word like 'hotcat' instead of 'hotdog'.
ならぬ means not, then 犬かきならぬ猫かき corresponds to 'Not 犬かき but 猫かき'.

I hope this could be a little help for you to understand.

お礼

Thank you very much for your help and I totally understand !
You are my hero ! Awesome.

回答No.1

cbm51901

「犬かきならぬ猫かき」…
敢えて言い換えるとすれば「犬かきちゃう猫かき」でしょうか。

As you are aware, we describe dog's attempt at swimming as a "dog paddle."
In the movie, it is not a dog but a cat trying to swim. Hence we should call it a "cat paddle" instead of a "dog paddle."

「X ならぬ Ｙ」 can be translated as "not X but Y."
Thus 「犬かきならぬ猫かき。」 means "Not a dog paddle but a cat paddle."

お礼

thank you for your help with my Japanese. As I am an American, I have not idea the first two
sentences in your answer though your assistance really helped me understand better.
Thank you again for your help.