I always thought there was a cartographic streak in the writers of the TV show Blackadder.
As the Elizabethan Blackadder is preparing to sail around the world he's told:
The foremost cartographers of the land
have prepared this for you; it's a map
of the area that you'll be traversing.
[Blackadder opens it up and sees it is
blank] -They'll be very grateful if
you could just fill it in as you go
along.
As WWI Blackadder is crossing no-mans land to spy on the Germans:
Blackadder: Now, where the hell
are we?
George: Well, it's difficult
to say, we appear to have crawled
into an area marked with mushrooms.
Blackadder: [patiently] What do
those symbols denote?
George: It says "mine". So,
these mushrooms must belong to the man
who made the map.
Blackadder: Either that, or we're
in the middle of a mine-field.
George: So, he owns the field
as well?
At army HQ:
General: Where's my map. Ah.... God,
it's a barren, featureless desert out
there, isn't it.
Captain (whispering): Other side sir.
At army HQ:
General: Look, this is the amount of
land we've recaptured since yesterday.
Erm, what is the actual scale of this
map, Darling?
Captain: Erm, one-to-one, Sir.
Melchett:Come again?
Captain: Er, the map is actually
life-size, Sir. It's superbly
detailed. Look, look, there's a
little worm.
General: Oh, yes. So the actual
amount of land retaken is?
[Captain whips out a tape measure amd
measures the table.]
Captain: Seventeen square feet, Sir.
General: Excellent. So you see those
young men didn't die horribly in vain
after all.