Shiing-shen Chern, 陈省身 (1911--2004), is a famous geometer. When taking about him with Chinese people who do not study math and have not heard of him, how can I best describe which characters 陈, 省, and 身 these are?
Yellowbridge has many two-word phrases with 省 and I guess 反省 would be relevant. But I am not confident whether it would be a good way to explain it.
I guess 身体的身 would work well for 身.
Would 普通的陈 work to say it is the most common name Chen? Would it sound polite?
I do not think I could draw any of these on my hand well enough for anyone to understand!