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I happened upon the phrasal verb in the movie Back To the Future. Here is the context:

Biff: Do you realize what would happen if I hand in my reports in your handwriting. I'll get fired. You wouldn't want that to happen would you? Would you?

George: Of course not, Biff, now I wouldn't want that to happen. Now, uh, I'll finish those reports up tonight, and I'll run them on over first thing tomorrow, alright?

I can understand that run on over means to deliver, what I cannot get is what the on adds to the meaning.

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    There won't be any specific widely-acknowledged "meaning" to inclusion of the entirely optional additional preposition on in your cited context (or indeed the equally superfluous preposition in preceding I'll finish those reports up, where off or nothing at all would mean exactly the same). You could say any such supernumerary elements provide "emphasis" (and often they really will do this). But equally often they carry no significance at all, and are effectively just "filler" words. – FumbleFingers Reinstate Monica May 11 '20 at 15:30
  • to finish up a report means: you are not far from finishing it. And it not like the question. However, if someone is doing the dishes, you can say: Why don't you finish on up so we can watch a movie? – Lambie May 11 '20 at 21:28
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to run [an object] over [to a place or person] means: to take it to a place by car or some other means of transportation or even on foot to that place or person. It is idiomatic.

And to run x on over is merely emphatic:
He came on over to my house.
They went on over to gym.
It is used with verbs of movement like go, come, drive, etc. It also implies two people are talking. It is mostly used in spoken American English.

  • Why don't you and John come on over [to the house].

The on emphasizes the immediacy of the action.

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    So if I say, for example, "scoot on over and pass me the keys, that would mean come on scoot over, right? – Dmytro O'Hope May 11 '20 at 15:35
  • scoot over does not require on. It works just like the other ons. It means you are talking to the person. scoot is a verb about moving, similar to come over,move over, go over, etc. – Lambie May 11 '20 at 21:26
  • Maybe it doesn't, but I have heard it used with "on" in the TV show "Friends". – Dmytro O'Hope May 12 '20 at 4:59
  • @DmytroO'Hope Why are you arguing with me? It is used. But, as I said, just like the other ones with the preposition on, the on emphasizes the fact one is speaking to a person in the "now". Using "on" like that is not necessary. It is just emphatic and spoken and colloquial. – Lambie May 12 '20 at 13:45
  • I am not aguing at all. I just wanted to get to the bottom of why people use it. – Dmytro O'Hope May 12 '20 at 14:28

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