I definitely think we shouldn't drink tons of water with our meals, obviously "drowning" ourselves with water would be diluting the stomach acid and everything else.
On the other hand, a lot of foods people eat these days are dry, low-water-content (and salty), so in those situations, one needs some water to help "wash it down" and so I would think drinking a reasonable amount of water (1 or 2 glasses) wouldn't be over-diluting the stomach contents, and perhaps helping the contents be a better (less thick) consistency *might* be good.
Of course, some foods are high water content. So raw vegans (for example), probably wouldn't need to help "wash down" their food.

I used to be a drowner, tossing back tons of water during a meal - mainly in restaurants, where they keep filling up your cup. I broke myself of that, so now I either don't drink at all during a meal (I don't even fix a cup), or I only drink a few sips, less than 1 cup, during the meal (as needed).

The icy drinks are supposed to be bad because of the temperature, as it's supposed to be warm in the stomach. I know all those icy waters would make me shiver and freeze! I heard some stuff about them making the fats in the stomach contents all hard and giving people heart attacks and stuff... I think that's a little over-the-top but it does make some sense. So I guess you should warm the drink up in your mouth before you swallow.

I personally don't see a problem with a little water with a meal.

This one lady told me her physician told her to lay low on the cold water because it was bad for her heart. I said why, and she said it caused mild dysrythmia in the heart.