The first African tribal group contacted by European explorers and Americo-Liberian colonists reaching the area of Cape Palmas were the Seaside Grebo, or Glebo.
In the absence of other qualification, the term Grebo language refers to the Glebo speech variety.
Considerable ambiguity and imprecision continue to exist with respect to the scholarly use of the term Grebo; it is not always clear precisely which variety it is intended to denote.
This imprecision results from several factors: Ethnologue subdivides the Grebo branch of Western Kru into nine coded languages based on the needs of literacy, several consisting of divergent dialects with strong ethnocentric identities.
A degree of bilingualism / bidialectalism is normal in such a context, but so is the commonly observed thrust for autonomy.