Basis of Presentation - Schedule of Impact of Adopting New Revenue Guidance Income Statement (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2018	Aug. 31, 2017
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Total revenue	$ 1,697,975	$ 1,611,503
Selling and administrative expenses	504,634	486,283
Operating income	265,228	249,099
Income (loss) before income taxes	241,420	219,079
Income taxes	28,873	57,971
Income from continuing operations	212,547	161,108
Net income	$ 212,515	$ 217,211
Diluted earnings per share (in dollars per share)	$ 1.89	$ 1.96
Under Historical Guidance
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Total revenue	$ 1,698,493
Selling and administrative expenses	511,674
Operating income	259,112
Income (loss) before income taxes	235,304
Income taxes	27,328
Income from continuing operations	207,976
Net income	$ 207,944
Diluted earnings per share (in dollars per share)	$ 1.85
Impact of Adopting ASU 2014-09 | Accounting Standards Update 2014-09
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Total revenue	$ (518)
Selling and administrative expenses	(7,040)
Operating income	6,116
Income (loss) before income taxes	6,116
Income taxes	1,545
Income from continuing operations	4,571
Net income	$ 4,571
Diluted earnings per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.04
Uniform Rental and Facility Services
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Total revenue	$ 1,374,938	$ 1,311,784
Cost of revenue	746,453	706,863
Uniform Rental and Facility Services | Under Historical Guidance
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Total revenue	1,375,833
Uniform Rental and Facility Services | Impact of Adopting ASU 2014-09 | Accounting Standards Update 2014-09
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Total revenue	(895)
Other
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Total revenue	323,037	299,719
Cost of revenue	176,810	$ 165,287
Other | Under Historical Guidance
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Total revenue	322,660
Cost of revenue	176,404
Other | Impact of Adopting ASU 2014-09 | Accounting Standards Update 2014-09
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Total revenue	377
Cost of revenue	$ 406