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Actually "halfpenny" works for me because the "l" is missing in the pronunciation of "half" anyway, so in English-English "halfpenny" only loses the "f" as there there was no "l" to lose. I would say something like "haaf" for "half" normally but "halfpenny" is like "haypenny".
"giraffe" has an "f" at the end when I say it. Can you say it without one? Wouldn't that just be "gira"?
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Looking at the OED it would appear that there might be some Americans who don't pronounce the second "f" in "fifth", so it would be more like "fith", but I am struggling to think of a genuine standardly-pronounced word with a silent f.
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Concerning "giraffe":
I highlighted the second 'f' to indicate which letter was the silent one. This was an attempt to be consistent with other examples appearing on the list.
Source: "The final ⟨fe⟩ in giraffe gives a clue to the second-syllable stress, where *giraf might suggest initial-stress."
Concerning "halfpenny":
I was, admittedly, referring to the American-English pronunciation wherein I have yet to ever hear "hay-penny" but instead hear something closer to "haff-penny". Based on that experience the 'l' is dubiously silent.
I will not be lured into a test of yellow arcs regarding American vs. British usage of a commonly misunderstood language however. Let us instead both smirk at how odd we appear to each other & move on, enriched by the knowledge.
Wait! This isn't a Parachute, this is a Backpack!
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