Is Your Impatience Running Thin? Huh?

This morning, as I was driving to a water aerobics class, I heard a commentator on NPR Morning Edition make this statement in connection with the frustrating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico:

BP knows impatience is running thin.

My brain actually heard what the commentator meant (which was that people have BEEN patient but are becoming less so). Then my Grammar Glitch reasoning kicked in. Wait a minute. It is PATIENCE that is running thin. The commentator actually said the exact opposite of what was meant. What was meant was this:

BP knows patience is running thin.

It is unfortunate when incorrect wording distracts the reader or the listener. I didn't hear much of the rest of the story because I was busy thinking about what was said versus what was meant. That's not the goal of good communication.

NOTE: This is an unusual gaffe for NPR. In fact, when I am teaching workshops on business communication, I often suggest that a way to improve good usage and increase effective vocabulary is to listen to quality broadcasts like NPR's Morning Edition.