diff --git a/geval.cabal b/geval.cabal
index c76d561..ab9d753 100644
--- a/geval.cabal
+++ b/geval.cabal
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ library
                      , GEval.Selector
                      , Data.Statistics.Loess
                      , Data.Statistics.Calibration
+                     , Data.CartesianStrings
                      , Paths_geval
   build-depends:       base >= 4.7 && < 5
                      , cond
diff --git a/src/Data/CartesianStrings.hs b/src/Data/CartesianStrings.hs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..70f2418
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Data/CartesianStrings.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+{-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings #-}
+
+module Data.CartesianStrings
+       (parseCartesianString,
+        concatCartesianStrings,
+        CartesianStrings(..))
+       where
+
+import Data.List (findIndex)
+import Data.List.Split (splitOn)
+
+-- A helper library for parsing strings representing sets of strings
+-- obtained via a Cartesian product, e.g.:
+-- - "foo" represents just ["foo"]
+-- - "a-{foo,bar,baz}-b" represents ["a-foo-b", "a-bar-b", "a-baz-b"]
+-- - "{foo,bar,baz}-{x,y}-{0,1,2}" represents a set containing 18 strings
+
+cartProd :: [a] -> [b] -> [(a, b)]
+cartProd xs ys = [(x,y) | x <- xs, y <- ys]
+
+parseCartesianString :: String -> [String]
+parseCartesianString s =
+  case findIndex (=='{') s of
+    Just begIx ->
+      let pref = take begIx s
+          c = drop (begIx + 1) s
+      in case findIndex (=='}') c of
+           Just endIx ->
+             let inf = take endIx c
+                 current = splitOn "," inf
+                 rest = parseCartesianString $ drop (endIx + 1) c
+             in map (uncurry (++)) $ cartProd (map (pref++) current) rest
+    Nothing -> [s]
+
+data CartesianStrings a = CartesianStrings [a]
+  deriving (Eq)
+
+instance Read a => Read (CartesianStrings a) where
+  readsPrec _ s = [(CartesianStrings (map read $ parseCartesianString s), "")]
+
+concatCartesianStrings :: [CartesianStrings a] -> [a]
+concatCartesianStrings = concat . map (\(CartesianStrings ss) -> ss)
diff --git a/src/GEval/OptionsParser.hs b/src/GEval/OptionsParser.hs
index 61c2952..d0767d8 100644
--- a/src/GEval/OptionsParser.hs
+++ b/src/GEval/OptionsParser.hs
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ import GEval.Validation
 import Data.List (intercalate)
 
 import Data.Conduit.SmartSource
+import Data.CartesianStrings
 
 fullOptionsParser = info (helper <*> optionsParser)
        (fullDesc
@@ -243,11 +244,12 @@ sel (Just m) _ = m
 
 
 metricReader :: Parser [EvaluationScheme]
-metricReader = many $ option auto         -- actually `some` should be used instead of `many`, the problem is that
-               ( long "metric"            -- --metric might be in the config.txt file...
-                 <> short 'm'
-                 <> metavar "METRIC"
-                 <> help ("Metric to be used, e.g.:" ++ helpMetricParameterMetricsList))
+metricReader = concatCartesianStrings <$>
+  (many $ option auto         -- actually `some` should be used instead of `many`, the problem is that
+    ( long "metric"           -- --metric might be in the config.txt file...
+      <> short 'm'
+      <> metavar "METRIC"
+      <> help ("Metric to be used, e.g.:" ++ helpMetricParameterMetricsList)))
 
 altMetricReader :: Parser (Maybe EvaluationScheme)
 altMetricReader = optional $ option auto
diff --git a/test/Spec.hs b/test/Spec.hs
index c350775..3348a14 100644
--- a/test/Spec.hs
+++ b/test/Spec.hs
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ import qualified Data.Vector.Unboxed as DVU
 import qualified Statistics.Matrix.Types as SMT
 import Data.Statistics.Loess (loess)
 import Data.Statistics.Calibration (calibration)
+import Data.CartesianStrings (parseCartesianString)
 
 informationRetrievalBookExample :: [(String, Int)]
 informationRetrievalBookExample = [("o", 2), ("o", 2), ("d", 2), ("x", 3), ("d", 3),
@@ -670,6 +671,21 @@ main = hspec $ do
       calibration [True, False] [0.0, 1.0] `shouldBeAlmost` 0.0
       calibration [True, False, False, True, False] [0.0, 1.0, 1.0, 0.5, 0.5] `shouldBeAlmost` 0.0
       calibration [False, True, True, True, True, False, False, True, False] [0.25, 0.25, 0.0, 0.25, 0.25, 1.0, 1.0, 0.5, 0.5] `shouldBeAlmost` 0.0
+  describe "Cartesian strings" $ do
+    it "singleton" $ do
+      (parseCartesianString "foo") `shouldBe` ["foo"]
+    it "simple" $ do
+      parseCartesianString "a-{foo,bar,baz}-b" `shouldBe` ["a-foo-b", "a-bar-b", "a-baz-b"]
+    it "3x2" $ do
+      parseCartesianString "a-{foo,bar,baz}-{b,c}" `shouldBe` ["a-foo-b", "a-foo-c", "a-bar-b",
+                                                               "a-bar-c", "a-baz-b", "a-baz-c" ]
+    it "3x2x3" $ do
+      parseCartesianString "{foo,bar,ba}-{b,c}-{0,1,2}x" `shouldBe` ["foo-b-0x", "foo-b-1x", "foo-b-2x",
+                                                                      "foo-c-0x", "foo-c-1x", "foo-c-2x",
+                                                                      "bar-b-0x", "bar-b-1x", "bar-b-2x",
+                                                                      "bar-c-0x", "bar-c-1x", "bar-c-2x",
+                                                                      "ba-b-0x", "ba-b-1x", "ba-b-2x",
+                                                                      "ba-c-0x", "ba-c-1x", "ba-c-2x" ]
 
 checkConduitPure conduit inList expList = do
   let outList = runConduitPure $ CC.yieldMany inList .| conduit .| CC.sinkList