To find the original price of the shirt before the 40% discount, we can use the following steps:

1. Let the original price be $x$.
2. The shirt is being sold at a 40% discount, which means the price has been reduced to 60% of the original price. So, $60\%$ of $x$ equals $48.

This can be written as: $0.6 \times x = 48$

3. To find $x$, divide both sides by 0.6: $x = \frac{48}{0.6} = 80$

So, the original price of the shirt was $80.

Would you like more details or have any questions about this solution? Here are some related questions:

1. How do you calculate the percentage discount from the original price?
2. What would the price be if the discount were 50% instead of 40%?
3. How much money do you save with the 40% discount on the original price?
4. If the shirt had been on sale for $48 after a 25% discount, what would the original price have been?
5. How do different discount percentages affect the final sale price?

Tip: Always double-check your calculations by working backward to ensure the discount applied leads to the sale price given.