I was just watching TV (forgive me b96, I know what I do) and two characters in the programme pronounced "salve" as "sav" Is this US standard, or a Jersey corruption?

I've certainly heard it that way on US shows , but I've never actually said the word so I can't say how I'd say it. It's not a terribly common word, especially spoken.

How would you say it?

silent L is the only way i have ever heard it--

Silent "L" with a looong "A" is how I hear it in my neighborhood ... Northeast US. When I do try out the word with an L in it I get odd looks but it's understood.
Friends usually look at me and say "Oh, puh-leese!"
wow

"sahv" is the traditional pronunciation. The "salv" is a recent innovation in UK/ANZ, by false association with the root of salvage. But I imagine it's universal now, outside US.

salve1 (sav, säv)
n.
5ME < OE sealf, akin to Ger salbe < IE base *selp3, fat, butter > Sans sarpis3, melted butter6
1 any medicinal ointment applied to wounds, skin irritations, burns, etc.

But if an automobile tire needed a "valve" I would not ask for a "vav"!

If akin to 'die Salbe' (i.e. ointment, cream), then it ought to be pronounced as it's written. Next people will be driving a Vovo home.

I (and my mates) in UK prounounce Salve with a long "A" and with the "L" but running into the "V" rather than a separate sound. This is how I have always heard it. I bow to NicholasW's superior knowledge but the root (and some dictionaries) suggest to me that the "l" should be sounded.
salve \Salve\ (?; 277), n. [AS. sealf ointment; akin to LG. salwe, D. zalve, zalf, OHG. salba, Dan. salve, Sw. salfva, Goth. salb[=o]n to anoint, and probably to Gr. (Hesychius) ? oil, ? butter, Skr. sarpis clarified butter. [root]155, 291.] 1. An adhesive composition or substance to be applied to wounds or sores; a healing ointment. --Chaucer.

Rod

Halve, calve, valve. Only the last halve I heard pronounced with the L.

Next people will be driving a Vovo home.

Which would be an improvement. One must pronounce "Volvo" very carefully.

In reply to:

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it ought to be pronounced as it's written

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What, are you nuts? Since when did logic or 'ought to' enter into English pronunciation?

One must pronounce "Volvo" very carefully.

Yes indeed! I have afriend who teaches at the local agricultural college, whose favourite story at the moment s the exam answer of one of his students to the question, "How does a farmer know when his cow is ready for service by the bull?"
The answer given was, "When it has a red Volvo."

Thank goodness the Swedish car that I drive is white!

When (she) has a red Volvo she is ready for a Rolls in the hay. When it is white, Nova.

Re: What, are you nuts?
That's me, the nu'ta.


Speaking of things Nordic, did anyone catch that story about some guy in some remote part of Sweden whose Ford 'Ka' was mistaken for a mate by a moose on heat; when the car didn't respond the he moose-handled it and concluded by defecating on it. The poor man has no garage and the forest over the road