I see this phrase coming after animal names: "A badger is basically a weasel on steroids—you wouldn’t want to upset one".
So what is its meaning?
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www.oxforddictionaries.com www.dictionary.com, which are best of what I know, didn't give me any results – kalkanistovinko May 09 '14 at 12:37
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@RegDwigнt - If someone had only looked up steroids, instead of the idiom on steroids, the answer would have been more elusive. (That said, had the O.P. mentioned such a search, I'll bet he would have been cut some slack – it works for Yoichi). It might be worth mentioning [ell.se]; perhaps the O.P. would want to check out that community. – J.R. May 09 '14 at 12:38
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It is an allusion to steroid use by bodybuilders (in combination with exercise) causing vastly increased muscle mass over a non-steroid using average person.
It is used to mean 'a bigger (and sometimes other superlatives like tougher/stronger/meaner) version of'.
Sam
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