holy of hollow wood is a popular Brazilian expression used to designate an individual of doubtful character, with fraudulent actions, one liar person, false or hypocritical.
This is a very typical expression and used in Brazil for centuries, and currently its meaning denotes the level of falsehood or hypocrisy of someone. Example: "Don't be fooled by the friendliness of that boy, he's a saint of a hollow wood".
In its figurative sense, this expression also serves to indicate that a certain person appears to be something he is not, deceiving everyone around him.
There are some disagreements about what would be the true story about the origin of the expression "santo do pau hollow" in However, the most accepted dates from the end of the 17th century and beginning of the 18th century, when Brazil was still going through the Period Colonial.
The country was at the height of mining and gold was one of the most exploited minerals by miners at the time. It is believed that the expression was born in the state of Minas Gerais.
The miners, to try to escape the "fifth", that is, the 20% tax that was levied at the time by the Portuguese Crown on all precious metals that were mined in Brazilian territory, they manufactured images of saints in hollow wood, so that they could be filled with powdered gold and pass unnoticed by the posts of oversight.
With this tactic, many miners managed to "dribble" the Foundry Houses, which are responsible for collecting all taxes on mining in the country, in the name of the Crown.
Hollowwood saints were also used by smugglers to send gold coins, precious stones and other treasures to Portugal or other provinces in Brazil. Many fortunes would have been made from this trick.
