I believe the history of the pronunciation of "Los Angeles" was discussed on this thread before, but here's an LA Times article about it, which I thought was interesting:
Devil of a time with City of Angels' name
Proper pronunciation has perplexed a plethora of people.
By Steve Harvey
Only in L.A.
June 26, 2011
Former Mayor Sam Yorty pronounced the city's name as Law SANG-lus. (Los Angeles Times / April 7, 1968)
Texas Gov. Rick Perry, President Theodore Roosevelt and Bugs Bunny might appear to have little in common, but they do share one distinction:
They've all mispronounced Los Angeles.
Perry committed his gaffe the other day at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena when he greeted a Latino group with the words, "Buenos dias, Los Angeles!" He rendered the city's name as
Loce AN-guh-leeze, as though it contained a hard G and rhymed with "fleas."
It was somewhat reminiscent of the time President Roosevelt referred to the City of Angels as L
oss AN-jee-leeze during a 1903 visit, according to historian John Weaver.
Bugs Bunny would later use the hard-G pronunciation as well, though it is probable that the rabbit was just being mischievous.
Mispronouncing L.A. is an old tradition.
"There is no other city in the world whose inhabitants so miserably and shamelessly, and with so many varieties of foolishness, miscall the name of the town they live in," author Charles Lummis wrote in 1914.
As early as 1880 the Chamber of Commerce issued this reminder to visitors (and residents):
The Lady would remind you, please
Her name is not Lost AN-jie-lees."
But what is the lady's name? It depends, of course, on whether one is talking about a Spanish or Anglicized pronunciation.
In the early 1900s, The Times advocated the Spanish version, carrying a box by its editorial page masthead that proclaimed the way to say Los Angeles was
Loce AHNG-hayl-ais.
English speakers who found that difficult could only be thankful that the city had shortened its original name, which some scholars believe was El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula.
The Times' campaign aside, the United States Board on Geographic Names decreed in 1934 that the name should be Anglicized to
Loss AN-ju-less.
The Times said the federal agency's decree made the city "sound like some brand of fruit preserve." It detected a conspiracy to rob California cities of their "soft, sibilant Spanish syllables" and asked whether San Jose would next be pronounced
San JOCE and San Joaquin would become
San JOK-kin.
The newspaper predicted that the change to
Loss AN-ju-less would "find no favor with the people of Southern California." The Times was correct, to a point, but not in the way it meant.
While the Spanish version lapsed into disuse, a debate arose over newcomers using an alternative Anglicized version with a hard G — something along the lines of
Loss AN-guh-less.
So, in 1952, Mayor Fletcher Bowron impaneled a jury of experts to determine an official pronunciation, once and for all, for the city. After all, Los Angeles was approaching its 171st birthday. It was time to figure out what to call it.
A Times reporter noted, incidentally, that in Bowron's remarks, "the mayor carefully steered clear" of trying to say Los Angeles, "referring to it as 'our city.' "
[...]
Read the rest by clicking on
this.
I used to work with a Chinese guy from Hong Kong, who actually spoke English with somewhat of a British accent, and he would pronounce Los Angeles as "Los AN-juh-leeze."