I was taught that certain icons do not translate well. For example a tick (check-mark) has no meaning in some cultures, etc.
In practice I haven't seen many instances of icons which don't travel well. It may be that the problem was overstated or that culture has globalised.
Do you have any examples of icons which have been missunderstood or even offensive in localis/zed applications?
It is hard to enumerate all combination for all culture and all symbols.
The more simple a symbol is, the more meaning it has. It has more than one meaning to even within one culture.
For example:
+, it is a cross; it is a plus; it is a target; it is Christianity related. In East Asian, it is the symbol/character of ten. -, it is a hyphen; it is a minus; it crosses out something; it is a bar. In East Asian, it is the symbol/character of one. Swastika, an ancient symbol is widespread in East and West, mean many many things, from auspicious, Buddhism to Nazi.