Abstract Metaphor is one of the key concepts of semiotics. This essay has been written with the aim in mind of defining a new application of the field of semiotics, namely what I call ‘future studies’. The paper deals with three issues: (i) the theory of metaphors as such, much discussed in the semiotic literature; (ii) what semiotics says about the future; and (iii) what kind of semiotics we are considering here. I propose to explore the problem of metaphors and the future of semiotics in the light of my own new theory, which I call ‘existential semiotics’. Existential semiotics is a combination of the continental philosophy and the semiotic tradition. It investigates sign phenomena in our living world i.e. Dasein in the light of transcendence and its appearance. This new semiotic theory stems from the Paris school and maintains many of its central notions.