Absolutely annoying words

Last week, CNN did a story on the rampant use of the word "absolutely" -- especially in news and politics. I have my own list and would also welcome hearing from readers about other political catch-phrases that ought to be banned.

 Here are my top  four:
"Going forward" -- It's now a comma in some  people's sentences. It's out of control. I think it may have started as cute way to say "here's what's next" or "what's next?" but now it just seems to mean "I'm going to say some other stuff now, okay?"
"Narrative." -- this is actually a lovely word, which means something. A narrative is a coherent story line, with a beginning, middle and end.  But in politics, it's now being used as a synonym for "reason," as in: "Michael Ignatieff can't provoke an election until he has a narrative." 
"Branding" --   Another great word, great concept, which is now totally overused to the point of meaninglessness. Everyone does branding now. Everyone's a brand expert.
"At the end of the day" --   I guess this is where you end up when you keep "going forward."

Comments

[Paul Wells]

Let there be no mistake.

[Pundits' Guide]

Guilty on Nos. 1 and 4 occasionally. Duly admonished.

[Inge]

Stand up to the plate.

[Johnnyk]

Not political, but could we also dump "icon"? Nowadays it seems to refer to any media confection who has had their 15 minutes.
And in the same bin, toss "diva".
A female with a 4-note vocal range is not a diva. A diva sings leads at The Met and La Scala.

[Katharine Parsons]

More correctly, it's the "Bludgeon phrase" "MAKE NO MISTAKE"... often used by GW Bush, embraced by Harper and then --- ACK! --- found its slippery way into Barack Obama's lexicon.

[Mike]

"virtually", when the user means "almost". Sends me over the top virtually every time I hear it!

[sheila brown]

Our P.M. constantly uses the word "frankly" and what comes out of the rest of the sentence is not "frankly".

[Catherine]

Let me be perfectly clear.

[kirk]

My friends