the word "nigger" was already racially offensive in the united states by the start of the 20th century, and therefore the book's first us edition and first serialization changed the title to "and then there were none" and removed all references to the word from the book, as did the 1945 motion picture (except that the first us edition retained 'nigger in the woodpile' in chapter 2 part viii). sensitivity to the original title of the novel was remarked by sadie stein in 2016, commenting on a bbc mini series with the title "and then there were none", where she noted that "[e]ven in 1939, this title was considered too offensive for american publication." in general, "christie’s work is not known for its racial sensitivity, and by modern standards her oeuvre is rife with casual orientalism." the original title was based on a rhyme from minstrel shows and children's games. stein quotes alison light as to the power of the original name of the island in the novel, nigger island, "to conjure up a thrilling ‘otherness’, a place where revelations about the ‘dark side’ of the english would be appropriate". light goes on to say that "christie's location [the island] is both more domesticated and privatised, taking for granted the construction of racial fears woven into psychic life as early as the nursery." speaking of the "widely known" 1945 movie, stein added that "we’re merely faced with fantastic amounts of violence, and a rhyme so macabre and distressing one doesn’t hear it now outside of the agatha christie context." she felt that the original title of the novel in the uk, seen now, "that original title, it jars, viscerally."