The phrase "set off a row" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it when you want to describe the beginning of a quarrel or an argument between two or more people. For example, "The news of his resignation set off a row among the members of the board of directors."
These remarks set off a furious row with Michael O'Leary, the boss of Ryanair, telling his rival to stop whingeing.
By announcing that it is "an absolute scandal" that Laura Spence did not get into Oxford University he set off a torrential row that is still raging.
Mr da Silva's proposed alliance with the Liberal Party, a small centre-right group, has set off a furious row among his supporters.
Their threat to break ranks with the other cantons, which want the second language of all Swiss children to be a national one (ie, generally speaking, French or German), has set off a political row amid fears that the country's identity will be eroded.In this section Fifth tongue, fifth column?
Of course, the other reason Cameron is reluctant to give any details is his fear that it'll set off an almighty row inside the Conservative party.
At worst, a new civic catchphrase can set off an almighty row, as has happened in Manchester.Marketing Manchester, a body which promotes tourism and business, in May launched "Manchester—We're Up and Going", a slogan designed to express the city's "supreme self-confidence".
This was the tweet heard round South Korea last week, as tapped out by an actress-activist, Kim Yeo-jin, who thus set off a particularly undignified row.
"I was never the girl next door," the immortal line from the 1950s celebrity Bettie Page, could equally apply to Kate Moss, who set off a paparazzi feeding frenzy in the front row.
