Basis of Presentation - Schedule of Impact of Adopting New Revenue Guidance Income Statement (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Nov. 30, 2018	Nov. 30, 2017	Nov. 30, 2018	Nov. 30, 2017
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Total revenue	$ 1,718,268	$ 1,606,441	$ 3,416,243	$ 3,217,944
Selling and administrative expenses	491,671	468,084	996,305	954,367
Operating income	275,640	235,211	540,868	484,310
Income (loss) before income taxes	320,524	206,373	561,944	425,452
Income taxes	77,530	68,636	106,403	126,607
Income from continuing operations	242,994	137,737	455,541	298,845
Net income	$ 243,013	$ 137,109	$ 455,528	$ 354,320
Diluted earnings per share (in dollars per share)	$ 2.18	$ 1.23	$ 4.07	$ 3.19
Under Historical Guidance
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Total revenue			$ 3,417,686
Selling and administrative expenses			1,010,394
Operating income			529,121
Income (loss) before income taxes			550,197
Income taxes			103,537
Income from continuing operations			446,660
Net income			$ 446,647
Diluted earnings per share (in dollars per share)			$ 3.99
Impact of Adopting ASU 2014-09 | Accounting Standards Update 2014-09
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Total revenue			$ (1,443)
Selling and administrative expenses			(14,089)
Operating income			11,747
Income (loss) before income taxes			11,747
Income taxes			2,866
Income from continuing operations			8,881
Net income			$ 8,881
Diluted earnings per share (in dollars per share)			$ 0.08
Uniform Rental and Facility Services
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Total revenue	$ 1,390,778	$ 1,308,038	$ 2,765,716	$ 2,619,822
Cost of revenue	761,119	723,960	1,507,572	1,430,823
Uniform Rental and Facility Services | Under Historical Guidance
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Total revenue			2,767,884
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			(2,168)
Other
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Total revenue	327,490	298,403	650,527	598,122
Cost of revenue	$ 181,991	$ 166,112	358,801	$ 331,399
Other | Under Historical Guidance
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Total revenue			649,802
Cost of revenue			357,902
Other | Impact of Adopting ASU 2014-09 | Accounting Standards Update 2014-09
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Total revenue			725
Cost of revenue			$ 899